Where You Go When You're Gone
by LilsurferSango
Summary: Not everyone is who they appear to be. poss. Sarkney
1. Prologue

**Title: Where You Go When You're Gone**

**Author: **Lilsurfersango

**Summary: **Not everyone is who they appear to be.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Alias or any of its characters. I do, however, own my fan fictions and the non-Alias characters I create.

**A/N: **Thank you to all of the readers who have ever read any of my fanfics. This one if for you. I put this here because there is a possibility of Sarkney arising out of the midst of this.

**In order for this story to make sense, Sydney never got pregnant and Vaughn is dead- you don't get shot point blank in the chest and live to tell the story. **

**Prologue **

---Sydney's POV---

I sat on the edge of the king sized Serta mattress with one leg dangling over the side wearing a black Cami and blue jeans shorts over my plain black bikini, bare feet and a blonde wig.

The bed was covered with the blue comforter used to sleep under reflecting a deep, thoughtful blue, a contract to the pure mix of baby blue and aquamarine of the ocean below. Or at least from the view from here. The 2 open windows allowed the wind to blow past the silky off white curtains into the spacey room. Surrounding the bed on both sides closest to the wall were 2 wooden nightstands, each supporting a spray-painted, golden lamp. Opposite the bed was a mini entertainment center that encompassed a 32' screen TV and a mini bar. Between the door and the bed was a mini bathroom with a convenient hair dryer and a holder for it as well. On the same wall as the door was an open closet filled with hangers, while 3 suitcases lay unopened on the ground. On the last wall, to the left of the entertainment center were 2 plush chairs in front of a lamp. On the side closet to the window lay a wooden teacher's desk and a chair. In the far corner lay an unused wastebasket.

I typed away furiously on my black laptop, stopping only to glance out the window every now and then. Images flashed away on the screen and every once and awhile words and phrases would appear before me. At last a name emerged onto the screen.

Daniel Hefferman.

I typed a response into the computer and then shut it off. I closed it up, making sure to close it and replace it inside its traveling case before I placed in inside of a suitcase. I pulled out another suitcase. I pulled out its contents and spilled it into a black big purse. I pulled black flip flops out of a suitcase and slipped them on. Pocketing my keycard, I took up the bag and left the room. I remembered to keep my pace purposeful and even and swung my arms to match. I flashed a smile to a bashful bellboy who had been staring me down earlier. I turned down an elegant hallway, lined with paintings and fancy artifacts on mahogany tables along with a few scattered pamphlets and a glass candy jar filled with sweets. A brown Persian run adorned the ground while 2 crystal chandeliers decorated the ceiling. Pushing opening a glass door, I stepped outside and crossed the brick path to a small concrete building.

I overheard a party going on in a building in front of me. Through one of the windows I spotted an elderly guy sitting in a wheelchair. He had just finished getting a lap dance from a girl that could be no older than 17. The room was dark, lit up only by the strobe light and the bar inside. I smiled and walked away heading to another room inside of the hotel. When I entered I made a beeline path to the elevators. I pressed the button to the 3rd floor repeatedly. Eventually the doors closed and I felt the elevator take me up to where I needed to go. I glanced at the numbers on the doors and used a different keycard in my other pocket to open room 207. I closed the door and hurried over to the window, pulling out the objects from my purse. I assembled it quickly and with a quick afterthought, attached the silencer and a bipod to help take off some of the weight off my arms. I steadied the rifle and searched for the elderly man. He was still sitting in the same spot in the club, most likely enjoying the younger dancing couples. I held my breath and let it out slowly, taking in careful breaths. After a 3 second count I readied the rifle and slowly pulled on the trigger. After it was done I remained still for a second as I watched the slumped over man's death continue to be ignored by the party-goers. Then- as if coming back to life, I hurried disassembled the weapon and threw it into my purse. I wiped off the are around me and used a tissue to open and close the door.

I steadied my breath as I headed back down the elevator. I cracked my neck, as the doors opened, heading back up to my room as if nothing had happened.

Once inside my room I pulled out, once again, the laptop from the closet and reconnected to the internet. I followed through with procedure and awaited the screen to show me what I wanted. I began typing with precision. A response came back shortly. Simple and meaningful.

Well Done

Just like before images flashed onto the screen along with occasional phrases and words. I disconnected to the internet and packed my bags. I pulled out my towel and decided that while I was here I might as well go for a swim.

**---Hours Later---**

I threw my suitcases into a cab and got into another for lack of space.

**---The Next Day--- **

I woke up with a start and a pounding headache. I glanced at the ground. There lay one black suitcase overfull with clothes of all kind. I showered and changed before I packed up my belongings to head to the airport.

By the time I landed, I was glad to be home. I chuckled at this thought, _there's a first time for everything. _I was met at the airport by a smiling Weiss.

"So," he asked as we headed to pick up my bags. "how was your vacation?"

"It was …boring." I laughed. "Simple, uneventful, normal. But I guess in our line of work anything else seems somber."

He laughed at this. "So, I guess that means you're coming back earlier than we predicted?"

"You could say that." I responded.

**A/N: **Short, crappy, but I'm working on it. Please leave a comment and tell me what you thought of it. 


	2. Mr And Mrs Sadlefeld

**Disclaimer:** "Hello, everyone my name is Melissa and I've been in denial about owning Alias for a few years now."

"Now don't you feel better?"

"Not Really."

**A/N:** Welcome back! Thanks for all the lovely comments! They keep me writing.

**Chapter 1 -Mr. And Mrs. Sadlefeld**

---Weiss's POV---

I listened to Sloane drone on about some guy getting shot yesterday when I noticed Sydney staring off into space.

"Syd. I whispered softly hoping to catch her attention. I tried a few more unsuccessful times before I decided to talk with her later.

"Besides the fact that this man had quite a lot of money, we see no reason as to why this man was murdered." Dixon pointed out.

"There must be a reason. Otherwise, this is simply not our jurisdiction." Jack insisted.

"The man was a 72 year-old with lung cancer and liver failure." Dixon argued.

"All the more reason that his death was suspicious." Jack continued.

"Shouldn't we hear what Sloane knows, first? Before we jump to any conclusions?" Sydney asked, quietly. So quietly that her suggestion was almost missed.

"Sloane…" Jack began.

"Well, we don't know much. In fact, we would not have even bothered with this except for one thing- the bullet. It is such an oddity. I thought perhaps it might have something to do with Rambaldi, but I cannot be sure. When I obtain more Intel, a plan can be put in order, until then, be on the lookout for anything suspicious." he informed us.

"Suspicious like what?" I asked.

"Anything suspicious that seems like it _could_ have a connection to do with Rambaldi. Not suspicious like some baseball player's performance has wholly increased, possibly by the use of steroids." he explained. "Not to mention, and I don't say this often, but I have a hunch about this. I'm sending you guys there tonight to see what you can discover. Dismissed."

I pushed in my seat quickly and hurried after Sydney, who had already left the room.

"Sydney!" I yelled to catch her attention.

"Weiss?" she asked, turning around and rubbing her face with her hands.

"Are you alright?"

"Yea, I fine." she sighed.

I noticed slight bags underneath her eye and the look of stress on her face.

"Syd, this is me. How are you really doing?" I asked her again.

"It's just the stress from being back so soon. From going from peaceful to…" she admitted, trailing off.

"Maybe you should talk to-" I began.

"I'm fine. I don't want to talk to Dr. Barnett. I'll deal with it. I always do." To reassure me, she flashed me a smile.

"I guess I'm just being too protective. I'm sorry," I gave her a tight hug and walked away.

"She's lying…" I whispered to myself.

**Hours later in the vicinity of a port Fort Lauderdale, Florida**

---Sydney's POV---

"His name was Daniel Hefferman. That has been confirmed. The basis of this mission is to see if we can talk to any of the people who were here last night and see if something slips out about it." Dixon informed me.

"Are all of the guests here?" I questioned.

"No, some are being questioned by police." He responded.

"What if those who are being questioned are told not to talk about. They might be extra careful. Not to mention that since it happened so recently it'll be hard to snoop around." I pointed out.

"Hard? These are average policemen, maybe a detective or two at most. Syd, they'll be no problem at all. You know that." Dixon looked at me funny.

"Oh. I thought they'd have more then that." I lied.

I wasn't sure if he bought my story or not. "You going to go look around and take discreet pictures of the scene with this so called 'wedding ring.' Then go 'mingle' with the guests. We'll rendezvous back at 2200 hours in room 119 on the second floor. Here's a key." He handed a rather plain, white keycard which I immediately pocketed.

"What's our cover?"

"Well, Mrs. Sadlefeld, we have been married for 3 years and have come here as a way to reconcile our marriage." Dixon replied.

"Sadlefeld?" I asked, smiling. "Where's your ring?"

"No worries. An unfaithful husband has a tendency not to wear one." he smiled.

"See you at 10:00 honey." I called, walking away.

---Unknown POV---

"I don't remember much about last night. Well- the murder- I mean. I'm sorry. I was sleeping in my room. Late that night, though, the police knocked on my door to ask me some questions. I was in room 356, floor 4. My room is towards the front of the hotel, I'm sorry. I will contact you if- wait!" the women pulled closer toward me, whispered. "I remember her."

I looked up and glanced at Sydney passing by.

"Thank you. Here's my card. Feel free if you know anything else. Tell no one." I whispered and walked away.

**A/N:** So for the late update. I still think it's crap, but I wrote this instead of studying for exams.


	3. Like Mother, Like Daughter

**Disclaimer:** It called "fan fiction" as in… fiction written by a **fan.** Common sense now.

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews. This update is for you guys!

**Previously**on Where you Go When You're Gone:

_---Unknown POV---_

_"I don't remember much about last night. Well- the murder- I mean. I'm sorry. I was sleeping in my room. Late that night, though, the police knocked on my door to ask me some questions. I was in room 356, floor 4. My room is towards the front of the hotel, I'm sorry. I will contact you if- wait!" the women pulled closer toward me, whispered. "I remember her."_

_I looked up and glanced at Sydney passing by._

_"Thank you. Here's my card. Feel free if you know anything else. Tell no one." I whispered and walked away._

**Chapter 2- Like Mother, Like Daughter**

_"Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it; those who fail to learn history correctly -- why, they are simply doomed."_ -- Achem Dro'hm from **Andromeda**, episode #103 , "To Loose the Fateful Lightning"

---Sark's POV---

The elevator was almost the typical elevator, save for the set of doors on opposite sides of it. The sound of the elevator coming to a halt brought me out of my thoughts. I stepped forward, attempting to get off the elevator when a certain Sydney Bristow pushed me back inside as the doors closed.

"Miss Bristow," I smirked. "If you wanted to get me alone, you could have just asked."

She smiled sickly as she discreetly shoved a gun between us. She pulled me close as she whispered into my ear, "Let's take a walk."

I was going to make a witty remark but thought better of it with one glance at her expression.

She linked an arm through mine as we walked out of the elevator smiling.

"Don't draw attention." she ordered through gritted teeth.

"You're pretty bossy for someone who wants my help." I smiled.

"You're a business man," she started. After a pause I realized that she was waiting for my confirmation as she pulled me out onto the deserted pool deck

"That's right." I agreed.

"What if," she began, taking off her jacket and putting it on a pool chair. "what if I could guarantee you the opportunity of a lifetime?"

"I'd ask what the catch was?" I responded, continuing to stand after Sydney sat down.

"All you have to do is give me," she paused, standing up before she pulled off her shirt, revealing a black bathing suit top with red flowers decorating it underneath. "some teeny, teeny, teeny, teeny weenie piece of information. You think you could do that for me? Could you be my little helper and assist me with this problem?"

I watched her peel off her pants to reveal the matching bottoms. I then observed her nonchalantly throw both sets of items onto her chair along with her scrunchie.

"Now, Sark," she began slowly, leaning in with her hand on my cheek. "I want you to think long and hard about this offer. And when your ready to take the plunge into greatness. Come find me." She threw me a twisted smirk before she dove into the deep end with a modified jackknife dive.

I stood there for a moment before I mentally reminded myself to get my bearing. I glanced once more at Sydney's submerged figure before I headed back inside realized that I had been manipulated. Not only that, but after realizing this, I came to another conclusion. I was still going to do her that favor. And if need be, I would just have to tell myself I was doing it out of curiosity.

_Just like her mother…._

---Dixon's POV---

I groaned in frustration. Despite my best effort, no one claimed to have remembered or seen anything.

"But didn't you come here with someone?" a woman asked.

"Just a friend." I reassured her. "Now tell me about--"

"I don't think so. She had a ring on her finger."

"So she's married. I'm not with her. And that's not a crime." I reassured her by showing her my ring-less finger.

"You pig!" she yelled, slapping my cheek.

I walked away, grumpily, rubbing my cheek. So far I had tried, directly asking people questions, getting them drunk, attempting to seduce them, bribing them and countless others, but I had yet to succeed.

"I wonder how Sydney's doing."

---Sydney's POV---

I stretched contently after finishing my 10th lap in the pool. Swimming really was the best exercise. It used so many of your muscles at the same time. I needed something to take my mind of what had been bugging me all day. I reminded myself that I should take a pill that I had in my bag if I was feeling this way. A little pick me up pill that stayed with all its brothers and sisters in an unmarked prescription container hidden in the middle of all my things.

---Weiss's POV---

I typed a message into my newly purchased PDA.

"Seriously Marshall, these things are the greatest." I spoke aloud.

"Well, actually they're not-" Marshall began.

"It's okay, let me enjoy my idiot-proof piece of technology. It works for me. It was _built_for me. And frankly, there is nothing that you can say to convince me otherwise. Where were we?" I continued.

"Well, we were talking about the mission and how peculiar it is. Something tells me we're not dealing with anything average or the usual circumstances that we normally encounter. I mean, take for instance this Z53-" He explained.

"Eh! Marshall. That's okay. Ignorance is bliss. Thank you. Next time, I think I'll just call Syd or Dixon and find out what's going on." I smiled.

"Speaking of, next time that you get in contact with them, will you make sure to remind them to send me copies of fragment of the bullet. Not that that's all that you're good for. Although, it would still be amazing if it were. Though, you're not. You're amazing. You're an amazing-"

I gave Marshall a look which suggested that he be quit while he was ahead.

---Sydney's POV---

I dried off with a towel in a closet near the pool before heading back up to my room with my clothes in hand.

I whispered into Dixon's ear. "Don't worry about it, instead of arousing more suspicion, I'll simply get the information from Sark."

"How are you going to do that?" Dixon questioned me.

"By going back to the basics. Trust me on this." I murmured.

---Weiss's POV---

I glanced at Marshall briefly, at the honest face, and wondered if I should tell him about my suspicions about Sydney.

**A/N:** It was crap, but at least there's finally an update and you guys know I'm alive. Trust me, I know where I'm going with this. (For Once). Leave me a comment and tell me what you thought of it, plz!


	4. Deceit and Revelation, Revelation and De

**Disclaimer:** 4 sections in, and Alias still does not belong to me. I guess that means that it never will.

**A/N:** Thanks for all the great reviews. You guys keep me writing.

**Chapter 3- Deceit and Revelation, Revelation and Deceit **

_Magog (to Patriarch): "Your superior race? We ate them."_ ---Andromeda

---Sydney's POV---

I slipped into blue baggy pajama pants and a white tank top before I headed over to my suitcases. This hotel room was more or less the same room that I had been in only the night before. Except that it was more simple and not as peaceful. My hair was still wet from the pool, so I had to be careful not to wet down any of my things. I threw the clothes out of one of the suitcases and pulled out a box of tampons wrapped in a t-shirt. After doing this, I reached inside and pulled out an unmarked bottle of pills. I took the container to the bathroom where I proceeded to fill up a cup with water. I placed the pill in the back of my throat and washed it down, easily, with some water. I immediately, hurried back to the suitcase where I capped the bottle and hid it back in it's hiding place.

Just as I was pushing the suitcase back into the closet, I heard brief, succinct knocking.

"Who is it?" I asked, walking the brief distance to the door. When no one answered, I peered through the peephole only to find that there was no one at my doorstep. Angry, I had just started to walk away when a piece of paper was pushed underneath my door. The sound of the friction between the paper and the carpet alerted me to its presence.

On the paper was a pithy note:

"_We need to talk. _

_-Sark"_

I read the note and crumpled it up before I sent it flying into the trashcan. I could feel the edges of my vision become slightly blurred as I let out brief giggle. The medicine was beginning to take effect. I lay down in my bed, in some semblance of the fetal position.

---Unknown POV---

"Sir, sir!" A man yelled, running into my office. He was wearing jeans and a plain white t-shirt accompanied by Nike sneakers and stood out from my classic black business suit.

"What is it?" I asked, typing a report on my computer. "It better be good. You know I can't risk you blowing my cover by running in, looking like _that_."

"Well, it is important, but _good_, not so much." The man began, trembling.

I gave a nervous chuckle, readjusting my tie. The tie lay awkwardly over my corpulent stomach. "Whatever happened better be able to be mended. You know how I _hate_ bad news. But, I guess I can handle it, seeing as how successful agent Bristow's mission was."

I shot a brief glance at the man who was now averting my gaze and unconsciously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Something you want to tell me?" I asked standing up and running a hand through my balding raven hair.

"I don't… nor would I ever _want_ to tell you." he began, moving his hand in an awkward fashion as he spoke. "But…there were some complications."

"Speak up, Stewart. I can't hear you. Now, I may be an aging man, but my hearing is perfectly fine. Please speak in a normal tone, so that I can fully appreciate what it is that you are saying."

"There were…." He glanced uneasily at the black glock that I was now fingering in my hands. "Do you have to hold that while I'm talking?"

"Is there a problem Stewart?" I asked. "While you're busy stumbling along attempting to tell me what is wrong, I thought I could check my gun for any defects. Do you see any problem with killing two birds with one stone? Do you?"

After a pregnant pause, I spoke again. "Now, please, continue."

"There were some complications." He admitted.

"Some complications?" I repeated with a hint of anger. "Like what?"

"Like the CIA," he began.

---Sark's POV---

I opened the door slowly, making sure not to make a sound. I replaced it, quickly and continued walking. A brief survey of the area, told me that it was, for the most part, still undisturbed. I pulled out a can and began to spray the room, in hopes of finding something. Success, however, would not be mine tonight. The area had been wiped clean, and no one, not even the detectives were going to find anything. I was glancing out of the window, when I heard the door open.

---Weiss's POV---

I glanced once again at Marshall and thought better of it. _There_ is _some kind of explanation_. _Syd deserve better than this_. In the morning, I promised myself, I would call her and demand one… in person.

The Next Day

---Sydney's POV---

I sighed contently as I got up from the bed. Sleep always accentuated the best effects of the medicine. I chastised myself for not checking my computer. They needed to know. I had pulled out my computer and logged on as I heard staccato knocking on my door.

"Coming," I yelled, pulling on a robe. Throwing open the door, I came face to face with an unexpected visitor. "What are you doing here?"

"Syd!" Weiss cried, enclosing me in a big hug. "It's been what, like a day? Too long, too long."

"You know I can't stay away from you for that long!" I laughed. "What the hell is wrong with me? Where are my manners? Come in, please."

"I think I like standing in the hallway better than sitting on a comfortable bed." he joked, closing the door behind him.

"I don't have much here," I explained, "but we could order room service. I haven't had anything to eat yet."

"You know what I could really go for? Eggs, bacon, toast, that kind of thing." He told me.

"Coming right up." I grabbed the hotel room phone and dialed up room service.

---Weiss's POV---

I glanced nervously back at Sydney as she talked on the phone. I glanced at her laptop, which had been left forgotten on her bed. I knew that with her spy skills and common sense, that I would not have enough time to search it while she was on the phone.

"It'll be ready in 30 minutes. I'm gonna go pick it up because I also need to stop by Dixon's room, see if he acquired any more information last night." She spoke in a apologetic tone.

So, what you're really saying is that you don't want to be in the same room as me, so you're running away." I joked.

"That's not what I meant!" she cried, throwing a light punch on my arm.

Unfortunately, this was Sydney Bristow. Which meant that her "light punch" was going to leave a bruise. I could feel it.

"I don't know how long the conversation's gonna take. Unless you wanna come," she offered.

"No thanks," I reached for the remote. "I think I'm just gonna stay here and enjoy some all-expense paid television."

"Porno?" she laughed.

"No one needs to be bothered with specifics." I laughed as she headed to the closet. I watched as she pulled out some jeans, a short-sleeved red shirt, bra, and panties. With a soft click the bathroom door closed and shortly after, I heard the water turn on.

I counted to three silently before I reached for her laptop. _You can do this Weiss. Just breathe. _

I had just moved to open it when I realized that she might hear the keys as I typed on her computer. "Syd"

"Yes," she called from the shower.

"I just got a call, Sloane wants me to type up a preliminary report and send it to him. Can I use your laptop?" I asked her.

"I didn't hear the phone go off." she pointed out.

"It was on vibrate." I lied.

"Okay, go ahead." she granted me permission.

"Thanks, you know just for that, I'll save you the embarrassment of explaining porn on your bill." I yelled.

"Thanks for being so considerate." she laughed.

Immediately, I went to work. I opened up her history folder. There was a coded file that I assumed was for reports. However, when I clicked on it, it was password protected. Since I was no Marshall, and I had a limited amount of time, I moved on to another file.

After a few minutes of no success, I stopped and thought for awhile. I whispered to myself, "Where would _I_ put it?"

I glanced at her screen in time to see her screensaver, a quote appear on the screen:

"well behaved women  
**rarely** make history.."  
- _Marilyn Monroe_

I chuckled lightly as I moved the mouse to rid the screen of it. I let out a frustrated sigh, attempting to think about what Marshall would suggest if he were here. Suddenly it hit me.

I moved the mouse to find a wireless internet connection. When I was on, I right clicked on Internet Explorer before I clicked onto internet properties. Glancing at the page in front of me, I thought for a moment. I read the information regarding the temporary internet files and history. I double-clicked on the Internet Explorer Icon as I waited for her Home Page to load. An odd-looking Yahoo page loaded. Stealing a look towards the bathroom, I clicked on the history-icon, the clock. I was immediately give a choice of several days, but when I clicked on today, it only showed the Yahoo page. _She might not have logged on today. _I thought logically. Thinking rationally, I clicked on 2 days ago. I read the names of the web addresses as they scrolled by. Yahoo, AOL, a front for the CIA, Board of Education, and many more like those. However, there was one that stood out- I immediately typed in this one and waited for it to load. However, when it finally did I found out that that Web page either did not exist or that I need to change my browser settings to view it. I clicked back on the history icon and made sure I typed it in correctly. However, I got the same response. _Maybe I was wrong about her this whole time._ I reasoned. I shut the laptop just in time to see Sydney walk out of the bathroom, fully dressed.

"Finished with your report so soon?" she asked.

"It's only a preliminary one." I explained.

She gave me a look before she shook it off. "Sure you don't want to come?" she asked.

I pointed to the T.V.

"Right." she smiled, heading towards the door, her keycard in her pocket.

"Don't eat without me!" I yelled behind her.

When the door closed, I flipped through the channels until I found what I was looking for. _Charlie's Angels_.

Last Night

---Sark's POV---

I quickly hid while I watched the detective scan the room for an evidence of disturbance. Not that there was much to disturb in the first place. With 3 quick moves, I pulled out my gun, aimed, and shot... a tranquilizer dart into the detective. It would do no good to arouse unneeded suspicion. Especially when I didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle yet.

Using gloves, I pulled out the dart, not worrying about concealing it's entry point. The needle of the was as tiny as the wound of a blue-ringed octopus. No wound would be visible.

I took one last look at him as I exited the room, quietly. I hurried into the elevator before I pressed a button that would take me to the 2nd floor. Immediately, the annoying elevator music chimed in. Not too soon, the doors finally opened and I had to force myself from running out of that prison cell. I used my key card to access my room, room 127. And there she was… in jean shorts and a dangerously red tank top that she filled out nicely with legs that went on for miles and a beautiful tan that accented her brunette hair.

"Hello Sark," she greeted, sitting casually at my desk.

"Hello Vanessa." I greeted, closing the door.

**A/N: **Comments? I'm gonna steal and line from Marshall and say, uh "Hi. Welcome. Don't kill me." Leave a review and I'll update faster. After the 5th review I'll leave a brief spoiler about the story. (Don't worry, it's not ending yet.)


	5. Ruthie Jalon

**Disclaimer:** Yeppers, alias is not mine. Point blank.  
**A/N:** Sorry, I forgot to leave the spoiler. Work got in the way. As Marshall once said, "Hi. Welcome. Don't kill me."

..Sorry to disappoint you guys, but Vanessa is _not_ Sark's sister.

---Previously on Where You Go When You're Gone---

Last Night   
---Sark's POV---  
I quickly hid while I watched the detective scan the room for an evidence of disturbance. Not that there was much to disturb in the first place. With 3 quick moves, I pulled out my gun, aimed, and shot... a tranquilizer dart into the detective. It would do no good to arouse unneeded suspicion. Especially when I didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle yet.

Using gloves, I pulled out the dart, not worrying about concealing it's entry point. The needle of the was as tiny as the wound of a blue-ringed octopus. No wound would be visible.

I took one last look at him as I exited the room, quietly. I hurried into the elevator before I pressed a button that would take me to the 2nd floor. Immediately, the annoying elevator music chimed in. Not too soon, the doors finally opened and I had to force myself from running out of that prison cell. I used my key card to access my room, room 127. And there she was… in jean shorts and a dangerously red tank top that she filled out nicely with legs that went on for miles and a beautiful tan that accented her brunette hair.

"Hello Sark," she greeted, sitting casually at my desk.

"Hello Vanessa." I greeted, closing the door.

/I

**Chapter 4- Ruthie Jalon**

**---Vanessa's POV---**

**Last Night**

"So, I see you're still making your living fulfilling other people's wet dreams." I stretched.

"What are you doing here?" he questioned, peeling off his shirt.

"The same as you, more or less. Except," I stared at him, getting off the chair to climb up on the bed. "I don't have some twisted delusion of running off in the sunset with someone. You see, you are I are two of a kind. The sooner you realize that, the happier off you'll be. The more you'll enjoy life."

I heard the door to the bathroom close and soon after the shower had started.

Half an hour later, Sark exited the bathroom, in his pajamas- blue boxers and a white shirt.

"What the hell are you doing?" he questioned me full of anger.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I began with mock remorse, "did I offend you earlier with the harsh reality?"

He chose not to honor my jab with a response.

"The sooner you clear your head; get those ideas out of there, the sooner you'll see yourself for what every woman, for what Sydney Bristow sees you as. Even if, by some idiotic chance, she goes to bed _every_ night dreaming of you, even if she screams your name while another man fs her; you'll never be what she wants- a good man to bring home to her family and friends. The most you could ever hope for is what you are currently seen as in everyone's eyes. A good f. Lauren never loved you, Anna never loved you and _Sydney_ will never love you. End. Of. Story. Two peas in a pod." I turned away from him then in an attempt to hide the tears threatening to spill over. "Good f night. Thanks for taking the floor."

**Today**

**---Sydney's POV---**  
I grabbed the two plates full of food and headed towards the elevator with the smell of the food wafting into my nostrils. Dixon didn't have anything else. The detectives had nearly nothing as well. I couldn't remember a lot from last night; a side effect of the medicine. However, today, my brain was working like a finely tuned violin; a benefit of the medicine. Today, I could perfect my movements with mechanical proficiency. I could defer my better judgment to get something done. If I wanted to, today I could walk on one of the points on the crown of the Statue of Liberty. The sound of the doors opening, pulled me out of my thoughts as I headed back to my room. I went back over today in my mind. Weiss had showed up, acting just like himself. But, thanks to the medicine, I could detect a hint of stress and fear in his voice. _But why? He is not really a part of this investigation and…_ I thought about it. _And he's been acting suspiciously since the incident. He knows… or is at least suspicious of it. _Suddenly, I remembered something. _The laptop! He was on my laptop! _It was this thought alone that caused my increase in my pace.

"Weiss!" I called from behind the door. When he didn't answer, I knocked on the door with my foot. "Weiss!"

3 seconds later the door was opened and I was walking back into my room.

"Geez, could something so ordinary look so amazing?" Weiss asked, digging into his breakfast.

"I'll save mine for a little later," I informed him. "I've got to check my mail."

"You have no clue what you're missing out on." He called, savoring the taste of the food while I typed something on my computer.

I clicked typed in the address I typed a response on my computer when the "Page Cannot Be Found" appeared on my screen before I pulled out a blank white card with a black strip on the back, similar to a driver's license. This card was used to run along a crease between the keys. Once this was done I clicked on a specific spot on the screen and typed in a response. The screen immediately went white before words appeared on it.

Welcome back, Sydney.

I immediately typed in a reply.

After a minute the words had been replaced with new ones. Two words that instilled fear in my heart.

You failed.

I exited out of the page and closed my laptop, hurriedly. "f" I whispered, underneath my breath. My eyes took me Sark's crumpled note in the trash.

"What was that?" Weiss asked, giving my a curious glance.

"The internet. It's so f slow. Listen, I'll be back. I, I forgot something." I lied. "I will be right back."

I exited the room as calmly as possible. _What that f happened? How could they know? How could they _not_ know, Sydney. You're so f stupid._

I needed a walk to clear my head. _You idiot_, I mentally chastised myself, _You should have told them that you had it under control or something. Now it's too late! f moron! _

I continued walking, grabbing my hair with a frustrated sigh. 13 annoyed jabs at the elevator button was all it took to hear the nice ding that indicated the elevator had arrived.

I watched the doors close, thinking about how it resembled my life.

"Plan on making this a habit. Or is this our new clandestine meeting spot?" a voice piped up.

"What do you want?" I groaned, turning around to face him. One glance at him changed my current emotional state to that of confusion. His usual seamless attire had been tainted by the wrinkles, slack tie, and an un-tucked shirt.

"I wondered when you were going to get back to me." He spoke up, cutting off any idea to respond to the state of his current appearance. With quick graceful moves, he moved forward to press the button of a floor. "Follow me."

The doors crept open, allowing Sark enough room to escape. I hurried after him, glancing left and right, making sure it was clear. Within minutes we were inside of a hotel room. This room had no window. It had a bathroom, a bed, a lamp, phone, a TV and VCR and 2 nightstands. I waited for his all clear as Sark disabled all potential bugs.

"I talk, you listen." he pointed, "when I ask you questions, you answer them. Any questions? Didn't think so. It seems that at least one guest at the hotel remembers seeing you here the night of the murder- only you… were _alone._ So, I checked the records. Obviously, no Sydney Bristow ever checked in here. You're not that dim. Ruthie Jalon, however, _did_ check in. Really, Miss Bristow, Ruthie Jalon? Anybody with half a brain cell will realize what Ruthie Jalon is- Julia Thorne scrambled up. Also, I must applaud the big sunglasses and wide-brimmed hat and red hair that you wore when you first checked in. You see, Ruthie, after not only hearing the guest confess to remembering you, and checking the records, I inspected the footage around the approximate time of the murder. Come take a look at it with me, will you?"

I sat on the bed and awaited the recording. We both watched as I got onto an elevator and rode it. Shortly after, I got off on my floor and walked away.

'Stop' briefly appeared on the screen.

"So, let's say this "Ruthie" person was here." I began, refusing to acknowledge that it was me. "What's wrong with a guest using the elevator?"

"I didn't think much of it at first. But then I noticed something the second time I watched it." He explained as he rewound the tape. This time I noticed the white lines that appeared across the screen, resembling the lines that appeared when your VCR needed to be cleaned. "Technical error? Or did someone alter the tape? I watched the tape again. This time I noticed something else."

I watched the tape rewind and show me standing in the machine, awaiting the arrival to my desired floor.

"In these first few seconds, look at the button for the floor that is pressed. The 3rd floor. Now look, what should be no more than a few second later. 2nd floor. What happened. According to all the other tapes, no one called for the elevator on any of the floors. The lights do not disappear until you have reached the floor." He pointed out.

"I guess you killed 2 birds with one stone." I spoke quietly. "You told me what you knew about this situation and we had the discussion you wanted to have. And now that that's done, I'll be going…"

"I don't think so." Sark jumped up, blocking my only escape.

"Only 1 escape, isn't that a fire hazard?" I thought, aloud.

"What a shame." Sark smirked. "It's also a pity that I can't afford to let you leave until you tell me what's really going on."

**---Weiss's POV---**

I set down the now empty plate and glanced at the door once more before I hurried over to the computer. _You know what you have to do_

I found an internet connection and immediately clicked onto Internet Explorer shortly prior to logging onto my email account. _You can do this._ I egged myself on._ You_ need _to do this._ I typed in an address in the 'To' section and began typing in a message.

Suspicious activity noted in Agent Sydney Bristow. Request covert investigation. 

My fingers trembled as I hit the send button and began erasing all evidence of my activity on her laptop.

**A/N:** Questions? Comments? Please leave a reply telling me what you think.


	6. Suspicious Activity

**Disclaimer: **Once again, I do not own Alias. Point blank.  
**A/N: **This chapter is a little bit long. I hope you like. By the way, I am sorry it took me so long to update. **Very**, very sorry.

**Chapter 5-Suspicious Activity**

---Sark's POV---

I watched as Sydney briefly considered her options. I knew that she not only had a decent chance at beating me in hand-to-hand combat, but that she knew this as well.

"Start to get too close to the truth and an "accident" is bound to happen to you." She warned me.

"An accident?" I repeated.

"This doesn't concern you." She attempted to push past me.

"I'll be the judge of that." I persisted.

"And if you aren't fortunate enough to get a douse of common sense soon, that accident," she lowered her voice. "might just rear its head sooner rather than later."

I grabbed a hold of her shoulders and roughly pulled her closer to me height. "What is this about?"

"There will be no more warnings." She shrugged out of my grip and walked out of the room.

I hurried over to the nightstand where, from a drawer, I activated the listening and tracking device that I had just planted on her. With that done, I whipped out my phone and hurriedly punched in a number.

"Yes, Irina, I'm requesting use of your resources. For what? An inquiry on Sydney." I spoke into the phone. "Yes, whatever's going on has got her afraid and she sloppily covering her tracks. Yes it does have to do with Rambaldi, at least that's what this scenario's pointing to given the bullet used. I'll keep you informed. Thank you."

---Unknown POV---

"Yes, make sure they're ready to departure in 15 minutes. I _know_ the plane will not leave for an hour but I will _not_ tolerate anything going wrong with this assignment. It is vital. Do you understand me? Vital." I slammed the phone down onto its receiver. I was staring into the bathroom mirror in one of my numerous safe houses.

With one glance at my balding raven hair, I began to grasp at the strands of my hair and the scalp surrounding it. I winced as I began to pull up the scalp until it came completely off. I rested the hair piece down on the sink before I message the scalp cap covering my real hair. I decided to go with a fading strawberry colored hair piece with a few hints of gray in it. The hair length on it was a decent amount that hugged my head in a delicate manner that made me appear younger and more innocent. With a special brush I began coloring in my eyebrows to match the color of my hair. I did not forget to lighten my skin color. I dabbed on a ridiculously light face powder which, after numerous layers had been applied, made me look slightly tanner than an albino. One glance at the noses that had been crafted for me by an anonymous makeup artist was enough to decide on a fat and stubby one with a slight bend in it. I attached it to my face just as I had done numerous times before I also powered it to match that of the rest of my face. Save for my forehead, at least. On most people who didn't wear makeup and went outside often, their foreheads tended to be slightly darker. In my mouth, afterwards, I pushed on a set a slightly crooked teeth. The teeth slipped on just like a set of Invisoline would. With the addition of green contacts and a few face freckles, my face was complete. That done, I could move on to the rest of my body.

Unbuttoning my shirt, I pulled out layers of cotton that had recently been my gargantuan stomach. By peeling of ¾ of the layers I strapped it back onto myself so that I looked like a man who was not fat, merely a little pudgy. To add to this look I took away a layer of cotton that was wrapped around my legs and changed into shoes that did not add anything to my height.

After slipping on a wedding band, changing into better-fitting clothes and ruffling up my hair a bit I finally decided that I was ready to go deal with the current situation.

Upon entering this kind of life I decided that I was going to be smart about it. The best thing to do when you pissed people off and they came looking for you was to make sure they didn't know what you looked like. Every business associate I dealt with saw a different man. Every time my minions saw me I appeared as a different person. In effect, I had disappeared form this world. I made sure that even when I was sleeping that I was dressed in some disguise. No one ever saw what I really looked like and that was how I liked it. Even though I kept the same voice and fingerprints for everyone they were not my real ones. One could not be too careful in this business.

I stepped out of the bathroom and walked to my petite nightstand, staring at the only object occupying its space on top. I picked up the picture of Sydney, a picture that had been taken without the subject's knowledge.

"I'm sorry to have to do this to you Sydney." I whispered, staring into her eyes.

---Weiss's POV---

Afterwards I just stared at the laptop like it was infected with a contagious virus. _What have I done?_ I closed the laptop and backed away from it. _You needed to do this. She could potentially be a threat to national security. Or worse. Everything will be sorted out…or the truth will be out about something somebody did not want the world to know and Sydney will be forced to take the fall for them. _My conscious and my concern for Sydney were having a downright battle in my mind. I didn't know what to do. But I knew one thing was for certain. I had just set something powerful into motion.

---Marshall's POV---  
After noticing that I had a new message I opened my email account to read it. Or really, Sloane had mail. However, all of his mail was being rerouted to me until the biannual inspection on his firewall and Virus scanner was complete. One new message from Weiss.

"I never get mail from him." I pointed out to no one in particular a I opened up the message. I read the note out loud. "Suspicious activity noted in Agent Sydney Bristow. Request covert investigation."

I had to reread it twice to make sure that I had it right. I knew that I should bring this to Sloane's attention right away but I closed the email program and told myself that he was busy and did not need to be bothered with such trifling affairs.

"Marshall." I jumped slightly at the mention of my name.

"Hello Sloane." I greeted him.

"I was wondering, it's been a awhile since we've received anything back on that investigation. Did I get any emails or phone calls?" he asked me.

"Nope, none. I'm sorry to say this sir, but maybe this is just an ordinary murder case. If it wasn't they would've found something by now, don't you think?"

"You're right. It's clean. It's too clean to be an ordinary murder case." Sloane pointed out.

---Weiss's POV---  
I spent the remaining hour of morning and the rest of the afternoon walking around looking for clues and at the same time wondering what it was that I was going to do before it hit me. Even as I began walking I didn't consciously realize where I was until I was in front of the doro and knocking on it.

"What's wrong? Dixon asked as he pulled open the door and ushered me inside.

"Is it just me or does something feel different?" I questioned him.

"Different how?" He took a seat on the bed.

"More personal." I replied.

"How? We don't even know this m-" he began.

"Sydney's been acting strange for a couple of days now. She walks out of the room on random days; she just seems to act like she has to force herself to enjoy hanging out with me; like a person would with let's say… a stalker. She doesn't seem open anymore, she seems stressed. I think she knows more about this murder than she's letting on." I revealed.

"What are you saying, Eric?" Dixon asked, getting off the bed.

"I think Sydney knows who killed Daniel Hefferman and she's trying to cover for them. Think about it."

"She did try to come up with some reasons as to why we shouldn't pursue this. Pathetic reasons at that." Dixon added. "Whatever's going on, we need to figure out a way to let her come clean. Maybe we could help her. She could be getting blackmailed or worse. Let's figure out what's really going on before we go to Sloane."

"Too late." I sighed. "I already sent an email to Sloane stating that some suspicious behavior has been observed in Sydney."

"What do we do now?" Dixon asked to no one in particular, staring out at the night sky.

---Sydney's POV---  
The stress was triggering a major headache and before I knew it I was heading for the pills.

---Sloane's POV---  
"Marshall, I want you to look into this. Do some research. Find out what you can." I ordered, adding briefly as I walked away. "I want everyone who's not working on this case to start."

**30 minutes after midnight**

---Unknown POV---  
"Hallway is clear. I repeat, hallway is clear." a voice whispered into my earpiece.

"Copy that Range Rover. What about you Golden Eagle?" I asked into my mic.

"She's sleeping like a baby. No sign of her roommate in the room. He was spotted in another room in a heated conversation with a middle aged African American man. Looks like it'll be going on for quite some time. You are clear to proceed."

With my clearance and the security of knowing the security tapes were running on a loop, I proceeded to my destination. I pulled out a blank key card that had the word "master" on it. This key could open any hotel room in the place. After spotting the green light I opened the door, careful not to alert her of my presence. The room was dark and it took awhile for my eyes to adjust to it.

"No mistakes. Absolutely none." A voice ordered through my earpiece.

I turned around to see 5 of my men stepping into the room and closing the door. We were all dressed into camouflage complete with hats that covered our hair and spotless black boots with the shoelaces tucked inside. I turned back to the sleeping Sydney as I shot 3 tranquilizer darts into her.

"What did he say?" A voice whispered into my ear. It, however, was not form the earpiece. It came form one of the men in my group. "No mistakes."

After this reminder I shot 7 more darts into the unconscious agent.

I knew what he meant by no mistakes. He meant that he wanted it nice and quiet- the live ammo the men were packing should only be for show. It better not need to be used. Draw no attention. With a few quick hand gestures the other men began to search the room while I wrapped Sydney up in her comforter and pulled her into my arms.

"Make no mistake." I reminded them as I left the room carrying her. Another man followed me in case of emergency. It was pretty hard to fight when you were carrying someone. The security guards and other workers had been knocked out with some darts as well.

As I laid Sydney down in the backseat of a black Lexus while fighting the heartless wind, the other man hurried over to the workers and pulled out the darts. By the time anyone suspected anything, the substance would be out of their systems and no penetration mark would be found on them. I climbed into next to Sydney and shut the door. There was no one on the road. The other man hurried over into the front passenger seat as the driver sped away.

---Unknown POV---  
By now the helicopter was long gone along with Sydney, Manuel, Oscar and the driver of the Lexus. We had found what we were looking for and now needed to escape. Our gettaway car was located in the back and even though we checked to make sure that no one was around, we still quickly made our way out before our computer tech fixed the security cameras back to the way they were. Manuel had also rearranged the workers to apepar as if they had simply dozed off on the job. I for one hoped that we had not forgotten to do anything.

---Unknown POV---  
"Well done." I spoke into the phone with a smile.

**A/N:** Glad to be back. I hope you guys enjoyed it even though there were more questions than answers in that chapter. Leave a comment and tell me what you thought of it.


	7. Persuasive Methods

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim Alias in any shape or form.

**A/N**: Yay! An update.

**Chapter 6-Persuasive Methods**

---Weiss's POV---

"I'm just asking if we should go to Sydney. Confront her." I clarified in tone that hinted at anger and impatience.

"I have known Sydney for several more years than you have. She was my _partner_ and trusted friend for many of those years. She will react differently depending on the situation. Which means that we should wait until we have more information before we confront her about this." He insisted.

"You think you know what's best for her? What if she doesn't have enough time for us t 'get more information?' What bout then?" I whispered angrily.

"Did you even _consider _the fact that us dashing in might put her in _more_ danger?"

"Well I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." I stared him down. "We're not finding much relevant information on this case. Chances are that Sloane'll put this on this on the backburn-"

"Yet another crucial mistake. This has potential connections to Rambaldi. Sloane would _never_ put it on the backburner." Dixon walked over to the door and opened it quite unceremoniously. "I'll talk to you in the morning on our way back to APO."

"Good night, Dixon." I spoke with faux cheerfulness.

---Sloane's POV---

"Found it, sir!" a new recruit chirped happily as he rushed over to show off his findings.

"What exactly did you find?" I grabbed the printout right out of his hands.

I could feel him watching me as I assessed his work.

"And you discovered this on your own?" I questioned him.

"Well, yes." He beamed.

I gave him an unhappy smile as I pondered why Marshall hadn't found it before him. Maybe, this recruit was simply living up to his reputation.

"I'll get back to you with my comments." I informed him, walking away with the printout.

**!!!An Unknown Amount of Days Later!!!**

---Sydney's POV---

The simple attempt of lifting up my eyelids proved to be very exhausting. So, instead, I gave into the blissful feeling that was sure to accompany sleep. However, the sounds of heels clicking on the hard floor were preventing me from doing just that. In painfully slow motions, I dragged open my eyes and attempted to wipe the sleep away from my face. Instead, I found resistance tugging at my wrists whenever I tried to move them. That's when I took a good look around at the room I was in.

The walls were painstaking plain white with a black and white tiled floor. Attached to the walls were perfectly shaped half-spheres. The ceiling was bathed in a bright light that hid the true design of it. The room was about a quarter of the size of a small-sized house and no doors could be seen in plain sight. The metal handcuffs were of a different design- the less popular. Used by only special cops and a few select agencies. The handcuffs were connected to each other without a small chain that allowed those skilled enough to be able to maneuver their way out. The area between the two metal cuffs was cemented into the ground.

Because I was lying on the ground I spotted their shoes first. Not their-her, there was no mistaking the sex of the other occupant of the room with those shoes. The closer she got to me, the more I had to turn my head to see her face. Her eyes were hidden behind big, dark, designer sunglasses; her brown hair thrown up in a messy ponytail. She wore a very feminine suit- complete with a knee-length black skirt.

Her face seemed friendly- completely opposite from what her body language was displaying. She flung the glasses off her head and pocketed them in her jacket's breast pocket.

"You again." She spat out, crouching down so she could talk to me easier. "Sydney _fucking_ Bristow."

I gather up all my strength to utter out these words, "Should I know you?"

I know where I am, without a doubt. I am in the place you go to when you piss _him_ off. But I'm lucky, I was a favorite of his. Things will not be as harsh as possible. It could be worst, I know what I have done. I have brought the possibility of the CIA uncovering them in an attempt to solve this murder. This murder in which they should never have stuck their noses in in the first place. I messed up.

"It matters not. Do you know why you fucked up?" She demanded to know.

"Perfection." I whispered.

"The thing with this kind of perfection is that it has it's flaws. You forgot to include that. What kind of run-of-the-mill murderer kills so flawlessly? Our mole tells us that they are rerouting all energy into this case. Not to mention that fact that Rambaldi, himself, spoke of this happening. They'll never got off our ass." She stared into my eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Guess you're not so great after all."

I shivered slightly- the tile was cold and I had no cover.

"He still thinks that there might be some use for you. So you're still alive. When you're ready to come back to him- to beg for his forgiveness on your hands and knees, we'll talk."

My stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I was hungry. When was the last time that I had eaten?

The lady ignored this and after a beeping sound went off and started to walk away without waiting for my confirmation that I understood.

"For your sake," the woman turned around to face me, "I hope you decide to come back to him sooner rather than later. The longer I have to deal with you in my life, the worse it will be for you."

"Well I guess I should start up on a plan to get out of these really soon, now shouldn't I?" I stared her down.

I watched her tilt her head to the side as if thinking about something. "He's worried about you. Starting this evening, he'll send someone to give you your pills."

I couldn't remember who she was but the image of her talking with a man named Isaac about my medication briefly popped into my head.

My medication. The medication I had been taking for quite sometime.

---Sark's POV---

I stared at the monitor back in the safe house intently. I had left the hotel a few days ago to begin tracking Sydney via the device I had planted. The only thing other than confusion and suspicion that had entered my veins was surprise. Surprised as I registered to whom the voice of the woman talking to Sydney belonged to- Vanessa.

I picked up my cell and punched a number on speed dial. "Hello, Irina. There is no doubt in my mind as of this moment what it is that we are dealing with here."

---Weiss's POV---

We still hadn't found her. It had been days but still- she was gone without a trace. Her room had been cleared out. Everything had been taken and then all fingerprints had been wiped clean. Even Sydney's prints failed to show up anywhere in the room. Whoever had done this had created a standard loop so that the security camera did not catch anything on tape.

Something in my gut was telling me that whoever had kidnapped Sydney had not wanted anybody to find out any real information about that murder. Thus, they took out the last significant piece to the puzzle. Without Sydney we could only make guesses as to what was going on.

I opened the door and stepped inside. I took a seat in the conference room before I stole a glance at the chart. On the chart was everything that we knew about the murder and Sydney's disappearance. I wondered, with the email and everything that had happened, if Sloane had connected all the dots. But he as of yet to get back to me on that. That of which, I was glad.

---Vanessa's POV---

I sat down at the circular table in between Manuel and Oscar. Across from me sat Isaac. His face impassive and cold stared right back at me.

"What did she say?" He demanded.

"Nothing that we didn't already expect her to." I smiled.

"She doesn't remember who Daniel was?" she probed.

"She didn't mention him." I responded.

"Why didn't you ask about him?" he whispered angrily.

"You interrupted my nice little conversation." I snapped.

"Try again tomorrow. Afterwards, we go to more persuasive methods." He smiled, turning to look at Manuel and Oscar.

**A/N: **Review, please. It makes me write faster.


	8. Dreams of Fools

**Disclaimer:** Alias will never be mine. Neither will any of it's characters.   
**A/N:** Sorry for the hiatus, life gets in the way sometimes.

**Chapter 7- Dreams of Fools**

---Sydney's POV---  
I jumped up after regaining consciousness- or at least I tried to. Give the fact that I had handcuffed to the ground it was a little hard to do. I breathed a sigh of relief. _Only a dream. Or was it?_ Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered seeing those images before. Only they weren't occurring in a dream- they were happening in real life. Was that dream a based on something that had happened? _It couldn't be._ I mentally assured myself. _The things that had occurred in my dreams were horrific- horrific enough to be thought up for a Stephen King novel._

I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I would be just fine. They were bringing me my pills. The pills would put an end to my headaches, the dreams, and everything else. I would be safe once again.

---Sark's POV---  
The conversation I had had with Irina yesterday was playing over in my mind. I glanced over my shoulder before I changed lanes, increasing my speed as I did so.

_Vanessa,_ I mentally began, _what have you done to Sydney?_

---Jack's POV---  
I waited patiently for the other person to respond.

**InyourEyes:** Hello Jack.

I read the message before typing in one of my own.

**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse:** What did you find out about this situation?

It took them a few minutes to respond.

**InyourEyes:** I have a contact who believes that the death of the man has something to do with Sydney.

I was taken aback by this response.

**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse:** How so?

**InyourEyes: **Not quite sure. From the looks of it, Sydney made the kill. Still not quite sure why, though.

**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse: **Why would they take her? It would only bring more suspicion to this incident.

**InyourEyes:** Desperation, most likely. I don't know much else. I'll keep in touch. It was good talking to you.

I went to reply when another message popped up.

**InyourEyes:** I miss you.

**InyourEyes has now logged off. **

So Sydney had murdered a dying man. _Why, Sydney? What did he do? What did he know? What the hell have you gotten yourself into?_ I wondered for a brief moment if they were blackmailing her. One thing was for certain, I needed to find out what Weiss and Dixon knew. 

---Isaac's POV---  
"Did she get her meds yet?" I asked Vanessa as she hurried along the plain white corridor.

"Yeah, she got them about a minute ago, why?" she shifted all her weight to one foot which was supported by an elegantly decorated black heel that went with her black business suit.

"Just making sure. I may be mad at her but she's still my favorite. I don't wanna see anything happen to her." I grinned at this.

Vanessa responded with a forced smile. "Well, I gotta go."

"Wait, are you sure no one else is suspicious of our activities- other than the CIA?" I probed.

She looked like she was considering something for a brief second before she answered, "Nope."

"I hope not, for your sake. Please remember, my dear, that _you_ are not a favorite of mine and therefore will not be spared for any mistakes made." I reminded her.

"I understand." she responded before she walked away.

---Sark's POV---  
I knew better than to rush into that place by myself. Whoever had taken Sydney had done so with perfect professionalism. I needed backup.

---Dixon's POV---  
"Anything?" I asked Marshall, hoping- no, praying- to God that the answer was not the one I had expected.

"Sorry. Do you think that they kidnapped her because she was investigating the incident?" He whispered.

"Then why didn't they take all of us?" I countered.

"It is much easier to kidnap one sleeping agent then to nab the other two who are arguing but still readily able to defend themselves." He pointed out.

He gave me a look and I knew what he was going to say.

"Don't." I warned.

"You know this never would have happened had you guy not refused to wear implanted trackers." He reminded me.

"They itched and made me feel like I had another pulse." I answered.

"Well you know- side effects." he grinned mischievously.

"hmm, so are you volunteering to have one implanted in you?" I questioned.

"Well, I don't need one. I'm not as important as you guys are."

"Are you kidding? You are the brains behind the operation. If anything, you should have two or more in you." I responded.

He made an uncomfortable face before changing the subject.

---Isaac's POV---  
"Sir?" A man asked, unsure.

"Enable the traps. She's beautiful… but crafty. She has a history of finding ways out of imprisonment." I spoke, staring into the monitor at Sydney. 

"Okay." the man responded, pressing button on the consol. 

"Things didn't have to be this way, Sydney." I whispered.

---Vanessa's POV---  
I pressed the number two on my speed dial and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?" he answered, distracted.

"Do you wanna get something to eat, maybe…" I trailed off uncertainly.

"Is it important, I'm a little busy right now. This whole thing with Sydney…" He sighed.

I paused, leaning my forehead against the wall. _Of course. Sydney. Somehow the whole world seems to be obsessed with her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Did you honestly think you could compare with her? A fool's dream. You forget who you are Vanessa. A fill in, a distraction, a whore. Nothing more, nothing less._

"Nessa?" Sark called. "Are you there?"

"Yeah," I assured him, before adding softly, "I always am."

"Are you ok?" He questioned.

"I'll be fine. I'll get by. That's what I do." I smiled, a sad smile. 

Silence passed for quite some time.

"Why?" I asked him, finally.

"Why what?" He replied, his voice betraying his confusion.

"Why do you bother?" I clarified, hiding my tears. "Why do you bother with Sydney? She doesn't love you. She can't love you. What's the point?"

He remained silent for the longest time before he uttered. "I have to try. Without love, life cannot be defined."

"Of course." I choked out, barely able to contain my tears. "Without love, what is the point of life?"

**A/N:** Questions? Comments? Reviews and guilt make me update faster.


	9. Carry Carefully

**Disclaimer:** Alias does not belong to me. Neither is a lot of things.

**A/N:** Skip past the italicized if you do not need a reminder of what happened.

**Previously on 'Where You Go When You're Gone:'**  
_  
---Unknown POV---  
By now the helicopter was long gone along with Sydney, Manuel, Oscar and the driver of the Lexus. We had found what we were looking for and now needed to escape. Our getaway car was located in the back and even though we checked to make sure that no one was around, we still quickly made our way out before our computer tech fixed the security cameras back to the way they were. Manuel had also rearranged the workers to appear as if they had simply dozed off on the job. I for one hoped that we had not forgotten to do anything.  
…  
---Unknown POV---  
"Well done." I spoke into the phone with a smile.  
…  
---Sydney's POV---  
"You again." She spat out, crouching down so she could talk to me easier. "Sydney fucking Bristow." _

I gather up all my strength to utter out these words, "Should I know you?"

I know where I am, without a doubt. I am in the place you go to when you piss him off. But I'm lucky, I was a favorite of his. Things will not be as harsh as possible. It could be worst, I know what I have done. I have brought the possibility of the CIA uncovering them in an attempt to solve this murder. This murder in which they should never have stuck their noses in in the first place. I messed up.

"It matters not. Do you know why you fed up?" She demanded to know.

"Perfection." I whispered.

"The thing with this kind of perfection is that it has it's flaws. You forgot to include that. What kind of run-of-the-mill murderer kills so flawlessly? Our mole tells us that they are rerouting all energy into this case. Not to mention that fact that Rambaldi, himself, spoke of this happening. They'll never got off our ass." She stared into my eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Guess you're not so great after all."

I shivered slightly- the tile was cold and I had no cover.

"He still thinks that there might be some use for you. So you're still alive. When you're ready to come back to him- to beg for his forgiveness on your hands and knees, we'll talk."  
…  
---Sydney's POV---  
I watched her tilt her head to the side as if thinking about something. "He's worried about you. Starting this evening, he'll send someone to give you your pills."

I couldn't remember who she was but the image of her talking with a man named Isaac about my medication briefly popped into my head.

My medication. The medication I had been taking for quite sometime.

---Sark's POV---  
I stared at the monitor back in the safe house intently. I had left the hotel a few days ago to begin tracking Sydney via the device I had planted. The only thing other than confusion and suspicion that had entered my veins was surprise. Surprised as I registered to whom the voice of the woman talking to Sydney belonged to- Vanessa.

I picked up my cell and punched a number on speed dial. "Hello, Irina. There is no doubt in my mind as of this moment what it is that we are dealing with here."  
…  
---Vanessa's POV---  
I sat down at the circular table in between Manuel and Oscar. Across from me sat Isaac. His face impassive and cold stared right back at me.

"What did she say?" He demanded.

"Nothing that we didn't already expect her to." I smiled.

"She doesn't remember who Daniel was?" he probed.

"She didn't mention him." I responded.  
…  
---Sydney's POV---  
I jumped up after regaining consciousness- or at least I tried to. Give the fact that I had handcuffed to the ground it was a little hard to do. I breathed a sigh of relief. Only a dream. Or was it? Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered seeing those images before. Only they weren't occurring in a dream- they were happening in real life. Was that dream a based on something that had happened? It couldn't be. I mentally assured myself. The things that had occurred in my dreams were horrific- horrific enough to be thought up for a Stephen King novel.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I would be just fine. They were bringing me my pills. The pills would put an end to my headaches, the dreams, and everything else. I would be safe once again.  
….

---Jack's POV---  
I waited patiently for the other person to respond.

_**InyourEyes:**__ Hello Jack. _

I read the message before typing in one of my own.

_**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse:**__ What did you find out about this situation? _

It took them a few minutes to respond.

_**InyourEyes:**__ I have a contact who believes that the death of the man has something to do with Sydney. _

I was taken aback by this response.

_**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse:**__ How so? _

_**InyourEyes: **__Not quite sure. From the looks of it, Sydney made the kill. Still not quite sure why, though. _

_**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse: **__Why would they take her? It would only bring more suspicion to this incident. _

_**InyourEyes:**__ Desperation, most likely. I don't know much else. I'll keep in touch. It was good talking to you. _

….

---Isaac's POV---  
"Sir?" A man asked, unsure.

"Enable the traps. She's beautiful… but crafty. She has a history of finding ways out of imprisonment." I spoke, staring into the monitor at Sydney.

"Okay." the man responded, pressing button on the consol.

"Things didn't have to be this way, Sydney." I whispered.

…

---Vanessa's POV---  
I paused, leaning my forehead against the wall. /IOf course. Sydney. Somehow the whole world seems to be obsessed with her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Did you honestly think you could compare with her? A fool's dream. You forget who you are Vanessa. A fill in, a distraction, a whore. Nothing more, nothing less.  
….

---Vanessa's POV---  
"Why do you bother?" I clarified, hiding my tears. "Why do you bother with Sydney? She doesn't love you. She can't love you. What's the point?"

He remained silent for the longest time before he uttered. "I have to try. Without love, life cannot be defined."

"Of course." I choked out, barely able to contain my tears. "Without love, what is the point of life?"

**Chapter 8- Carry Carefully**

(((The Next Day)))  
---Irina's POV----  
My daughter is turning out to be just like me. I know that some mothers would be proud to know this simple fact; but when you killed people to get what you wanted, you tended to _not_ want your daughter to look to you for a role model. I had no leads- other than what Sark already knew; I was basically flying blind. If there was one thing I hated more than anything in the world, it was being left in the dark. Especially with something that concerned Sydney. I wondered, with a fleeting thought, where exactly she was now.

---Sydney's POV---  
I awoke, this time, feeling better, although to be fair, there were only a few scenarios that could have left me feeling worse than I did before. Especially since, thanks to the pills, the dreams weren't that bad. They were lessening in regularity and in clarity. All I was left with was a brief feeling of resisting and a bright white light follow by a blissful relaxed state of mind.

It was then that I noticed that there was a plate of food lying next to the door. I gave a succinct chuckle at their attempts of 'torture.' They needed to feed me daily so that I was able to take my pill.

As I moved to stretch, a nearly automatic response for me, I noticed that not only were my wrists no longer handcuffed, but the handcuffs were gone as well. Natural instinct told me to head over to get some food, but my spy skills told me to observe this new situation carefully before proceeding. _Why would they want me to be be able to walk around freely?_ I gave the camera a thoughtful glance.

"I took my pills!" I yelled towards it, making sure to talk slow enough for anyone to be able to read my lips in case the camera did not come equipped with sound. "What more do you want?"

However, it just stared back at me, mocking me.

"Okay, I'll do it on my own then." With that statement, I preceded to take off my shoe and hurl it towards the door. As soon as the shoe landed and asserted pressure onto the ground 3 dart shot out towards the area where the shoe had landed and spike shot up out of the ground simultaneously. "Plan 2.…"

---Sark's POV---  
I didn't recognize this city, however I recognized that building. It was the kind of library that you'd see in the movies, complete with the stereotypical concrete steps and pillars. I checked my tracking device just to be sure for I sauntered in. 4 meters away, 2 automatic glass sliding doors slid open and allowed me access to the actual library; not just the restrooms and conference rooms. I past the circulation desk, movie room and concession stand before someone called out to me.

"Sir, sir?" I could hear a woman's heels clacking on the tile floor as she hurried over to me. "Can I help you, sir?"

I smiled at the lady. A woman who was obviously in her late 40's early fifties, but still looked decent. She had curly red hair that seemed to defy gravity and curl up instead of falling down with a knee-length jeans skirt, yellow blouse and blue tank top complete with blue heels and quite a bit of weight.

"Not really. I'm just looking around. I'm not from here. I'll call you if I need help." I flashed her my best grin.

She didn't respond quite as I had assumed that she would. Instead, she crossed her arms and gave me a look that would have Irina scrambling for cover. "I presume that wherever it was that you came from taught you how to read, correct?"

"Of course," I was getting mildly irritated by her now.

"Then I'd appreciate it if you took that oh-so-useful skill and put it to some use by reading that sign right in front of you that says 'library staff only from this point on.'

"I'm sorry." I nodded, waiting for her to leave.

"Do you need someone to escort you to whoever it is that you need to go?" she demanded to know.

"Of course not." I gave her one last glance before I sauntered over to the video section, biding time.

The walls, on the inside, were a brown type of brick with green outlining the edges of the wall. The bricks matched the wooden circulation desk and the tables that adorned the building. The ceiling above the circulation desk resembled that of a dome.

"Hey mister." I heard someone whisper.

I chose to, instead, appear to be interested in the movie Once Upon a time in Mexico.

"Hey mister." the voice whispered louder.

I turned around this time to find a teenage boy standing behind me, holding a movie.

"Could you check this out for me?" he asked, showing me the movie, Original Sin.

"What are you… 11?" I guess his age.

"I'm 12. As of yesterday." He grinned proudly.

"Aren't you a little young to be renting a rated R movie?" I questioned.

"But I'm not checking it out, _you_ are." he pointed out.

_How clever._ "No. I'm not." I then preceded to turn around.

"Can I have my movie back?" the boy whined.

"Why? You can't check it out." I pointed out.

"Please." he begged.

_This was ridiculous._ I looked around and sorted through things, rearranging a lot of movies before I handed one to him- Finding Nemo. "But you can rent this one."

"I don't want that one."

_Kids these days._ "you can't rent that movie, but you can rent _this_ one."

It took him a few minutes to think about this before he scurried off to the circulation desk with the movie, Original Sin tucked snuggly between the Finding Nemo case. I didn't place it in the spot where the DVD was supposed to go- the librarians always checked there.

I walked out of the Video Room, seemingly to check out another section of the library, but to really see if the woman was still there. She was. I headed over to the nearest section and picked up the first book I spotted. She was still there. Time for plan B. I waited in line until I was next in line. I had made sure that I was the only person in line before I executed it.

"I would like to check out this book." I handed it over to her.

She glanced at the book and gave me an apologetic look. "I am so sorry, my husband has the same problem."

The look on my face caused her to flip the book around so I could read the title, "It's no the end of the world; help is here: Dealing with ED."

The next few seconds passed by quickly. I pulled out my gun and shot a dart that would silence her for a few minutes. At worse, her boss would simply think that she had fallen asleep on the job. I hurried away, into the forbidden area of the library. Along the way, I passed dozens of carts full of returned, unsheleved books, magazines, DVDs, Cds, and tapes. I eventually passed the break room before I found myself staring at a wall. My transmitter beeped incessantly. That's when I noticed Sydney's clothes thrown across a chair in front of the wall.

I was about to say that they had discarded the clothes so that no one could find them when I remembered the conversaion between Sydney and Vanessa. Something was behind the wall. The only question was how to get to it.

Afterwards, I hurried over to the correct side of the library and decided to check the records for this 'Daniel Hefferman' guy. 5 minutes later I had figure out that he was a wealthy business man that enjoyed sponsoring charities, non-profit organizations, and small businesses. Besides that he was more or less clean.

---Vanessa's POV---  
_I guess I'm expected to say,  
'God Bless You,'  
But you left me,  
You never loved me.  
I would be in the right now,  
If I said "F- you"_

This silly little thing called love. So powerful, so blissful, so painful. I turned up the volume on the radio, allowing the song to swallow up my sorry.

_I hope you can't live without me  
Carry carefully Camry  
Can't get your mind to stop thinking about me  
Carry carefully Camry  
I hope you wind up lonely  
Carry carefully Camry  
Then you wan go wish you coulda still come hold me  
Carry carefully Camry_

I sat on the bed as I downed some tequila, silently singing along to the bitter song- as bitter as the drink.

_I bet you think I'm supposed to smile  
Put the best outside,  
Put on an act  
To protect my pride  
You want me to take it like a man  
But I'm a girl who cries  
So if I puncture your tires  
Don't be too surprised_

Sydney Bristow. Bristow, Sydney. 'Perfect' Sydney. 'Beautiful' Sydney. Even Isaac thought so. She had taken away what was mine and left me with bittersweet memories. Memories that would haunt me. Teasing me, allowing me to get a glimpse os thing they called love- only to have it dash off.

_And While I'm at it, hell,  
I may as well key up your car  
Cuz what you did to my heart,  
That's an act of war  
With every step you take,  
I'm be one step behind  
Wont let you get me out of your mind _

I hope you can't live without me  
Carry carefully Camry  
Can't get your mind to stop thinking about me  
Carry carefully Camry  
I hope you wind up lonely  
Carry carefully Camry  
Then you wan go wish you coulda still come hold me  
Carry carefully Camry

I should be allowed to be bitter  
(Why not)  
Cuz it's only fair.  
I'm falling apart,  
But you don't care.  
Why is she so happy?  
Why do you smile?  
And why aren't you guys fighting all awhile  
Like we did

She wasn't perfect, she couldn't always deal with things. When that happened she turned to tequila. Tequila. My favorite drink wasn't even mine anymore. I threw the bottle onto the wooden floor and heard it land with a sickening crash.

_I know it must be a charade  
God please send me a shower  
To rain on that parade  
I hope she's cheating  
Juggling nuts like a squirrel  
Better yet-  
I hope she leaves you for a girl _

I hope you can't live without me  
Carry carefully Camry  
Can't get your mind to stop thinking about me  
Carry carefully Camry  
I hope you wind up lonely  
Carry carefully Camry  
Then you wan go wish you could still come hold me  
Carry carefully Camry

I could think of some many ways to get revenge or to simply walk out of his life. But I wouldn't do that. I loved him. So neither of those things would happen. I couldn't bring myself to destroy his source of happiness. Love. A wasted emotion.

_Yeah, u bout to go an get married  
Bet you would love me to be there  
I woulda tell you some things  
But them not fit for the ear  
Uusually they woulda said good by  
And I wish you well  
But not to you  
I hope your life turns out to be hell _

Bet you think I want you to die  
But no, I want you to live  
And suffer,  
And cry like I did  
I'm just keeping it real  
(woah)

I hope you can't live without me  
Carry carefully Camry  
Can't get your mind to stop thinking about me  
Carry carefully Camry  
I hope you wind up lonely  
Carry carefully Camry  
Then you wan go wish you could still come hold me  
Carry carefully Camry

"What else is in here?" I wondered, aloud. I crawled over to the minifridge less than 2 feet away from me and opened it. I grabbed a bottle of Arbor Mist before I closed it. Hungrily, I poured the liquid down my throat, already missing the burning sensation that came from drinking vodka. But it tasted great, I had to admit.

_She can't cook like me,  
She can't jook like me  
Don't know ya in and out like a book like me  
She don't pull a style like me  
Can't smile like me  
Can't give you a beautiful child like me  
In a tight like me  
No thing is quite like me  
And if me book her she run away  
Can't fight like me  
You don't know me_

I had a higher tolerance for alcohol than others, but eventually, even I reached that limit. I sensed that I had also reached it emotionally as well.

_I hope you can't live without me  
Carry carefully Camry  
Can't get your mind to stop thinking about me  
Carry carefully Camry  
I hope you wind up lonely  
Carry carefully Camry  
Then you wan go wish you could still come hold me  
Carry carefully Camry_

---Isaac's POV---  
I typed a few commands into the computer and awaited it's response. I zoomed into the picture, tracing the face in the picture ever so gently.

"I'm so sorry. We can't take any chances, Sydney." I leaned in slowly to kiss the lips of a zoomed in still picture of Sydney in her cell.

---Sark's POV---  
After I had left the library, I waited until I I was well out of the city to call Irina.

"Good news. Not only do I know what's going on, but I know where Sydney is." I spoke before glancing into my rearview mirror and noticing that a car 3 cars back and 1 car over had been trailing me for quite some time. "I'll call you back. I've got company."

**A/N:** Questions? Comments? They would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to update again, whenever I can.


	10. Worthless Desires

**Disclaimer: **nope, I don't own Alias.  
**A/N: **Haha Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be dead. So are a lot of ppl. Lol.

**Chapter 9- Worthless desires **

---Sydney's POV---  
There are many things that we crave in life; some of them are truly meaningless and are only sought in an effort to keep what is ours. Others are only meaningless because it will never happen; still additional desires seem possible to become a reality. One desire in particular, a famous one at that, came to my mind as I awoke. Freedom: the most beautiful 7 letter word that there ever was. It was also something that I couldn't have at the moment. I was still mulling this over in my mind when she walked into the room.

She came dressed in a $500 designer business suit, complete with a baby blue blouse and black heels.

Her eyes, filled with an emotion that I couldn't quite comprehend, watched mine follow her as she maneuvered into the room. Maneuvered being the perfect word, because she didn't take the direct path to me.

"Sydney," she began, crouching down to my level, "there are so many reasons for me to hate you. Not only do you have the ability to manipulate the entire world, but you look good while doing it. You have that fuckin 'undying' integrity of yours, not to mention the fact that you do so well on all of your missions. I bet you would still look great if someone ever knocked you up. You _stole_ the man I love away from me. You make him… God!" she groaned in frustration.

"I'm pretty sure that I don't make him God." I pointed out.

"That's cute, she has a sense of humor." She glared at me.

I didn't know what to say so I simply remained quiet.

"All of my problems would disappear if you would too. Leave him alone." She pulled out a freshly polished semi-auto.

The first thing that popped into my head was to give her the old 'think about what you're doing speech' before I realized that saying that would get me nowhere with her.

I watched her prepare before and after the shot went off. Life passed in slow motion then, just as it had all the times before. The simple fact that I had been in this situation many times before did nothing to alleviate that fear in the back of my mind. Perhaps it is necessary for it to be there, for survival reasons.

My body recoiled as the bullet pierced my skin. Blood could be seen gushing out of the wound. Experience caused me hand to apply pressure to the wound. It was not long before my pants became saturated with the blood.

"This is your last chance to disappear out of my life. The next time I run into you again or the next time that you fuck up my life; I will see to it that you will be leaving in a body bag." She replaced her weapon and walked quickly out of the room.

_What did she mean? Did that really happen?_ I didn't hesitate to act. Immediately, I hurled my shoe a few feet in front of me and wound up with promising results. I managed to jump to that spot by favoring my stronger leg. I repeated this action several times before I made it out the door. Once outside, I ripped the bottom half of my shirt and wrapped the piece of cloth around my thigh, where the gunshot wound was located. The sigh of relief that I breathed, however, was soon taken back. I had 3 different options as to which direction to go. The question was, which hallway did I go down?

---Isaac's POV---  
"Sir, I think there's something you need to see." A man rushed into the room and immediately began typing away on the computer.

A video materialized onto the screen.

"What happened?" I asked staring onto the screen.

"I don't know. It was- it was supposed to work. Our- our calculations-" the man stuttered over his words.

"What's that underneath him?" I asked, examining the video.

"It- uh- it's... I have no idea." he admitted, back away from me.

I made no comment on this. Instead, I chose to continue staring at the scene in front of me.

"It looks like he is on display." I spoke at last. "Who is that?"

"Sir?" The man asked.

"Who is that?" I repeated, never failing to take my eyes off the screen.

"I have no idea. I could find out." I could see him inching for the door.

"Is that what I think it is?" I was now completely fascinated with the scene unfolding in front of me.

"It looks like the history of his life… is being written. How is that possible? Sir?" His breath was coming uneven now.

I couldn't blame him for on the screen was a man standing at attention on display. However, what was strange about it was that he was dead. On top of that, words seemed to be materializing out of nowhere onto a paper beneath him that told his life story.

"I don't-" I stopped in mid-sentence. The man on the tape had just stared at me.

My fingers fumbled quickly for the power. "Turn it off now! Get that out of here." In my effort to get away, I had turned over my chair.

"shit." I breathed out.

"Sir? Sir," the man was unsure of how to proceed. "What's going on? What do we do?"

---Sark's POV---  
I knew that my best bet at this moment was to appear ignorant. Pretend that I don't seem them following me. A swerving car doing 70 above the speed limit was a lot easier to pick out of a crowd than a car doing the speed limit and driving properly. I switched over to the fast lane and hurried through the light so that the person following me 3 cars down and 1 car over would not be able to follow me. However, by swerving around other cars and pulling a complete jackass move, they were able to follow me… straight into traffic.

I stared at the line of at least 37 cars in my lane and wondered what to do next.

The siren sounding from behind me solved my solution. Since all the lanes were crowed with traffic, the ambulance was forced to drive in a section that had been marked off for emergencies. I followed behind them as the ambulance made its way through the traffic. That also meant that we made a right turn from the far left lane. All I had to do was stay behind the- fuck.

I made an immediate u-turn to go in the opposite direction moment before the ford did as well. A hard right had me driving through a mall parking lot.

"Sir, sir!" An elderly security guard spoke through his bullhorn as he drove behind me. "Sir, you need to slow down."

I did a donut in the parking lot before I turned off into a private neighborhood. I had to swerve to dodge the tree branches that the city had failed to pick up after the hurricane. They were closing in on me. I sped up, now going 115 in a 25 mph neighborhood. I had to turn around in something resembling a turnabout. The back of my car skidded to the right as I completed the turn and resumed my speed. I cut through a vacant lot and avoided the kids playing at a birthday party. I stepped on my brakes when I spotted couple making out on top of their car. I skidded to a long stop before I reversed up to them.

"I'll trade you." I called out from the window.

The guy pushed the girl off form his lap and compared the cars.

"Okay." He smiled, grabbing something from his car.

I grabbed the keys from him after pulling the girl off of the car and speeding away.

As I was driving away I was surprised at the level of the music form the guy who was "bringing sexy back." I expertly maneuvered the car while switching to a station that was easier on the ears.

I pulled into a car wash and allowed them to wash the car while I waited inside the actual car. What felt like a lifetime later, they were finally done. By that time I actually had formulated a plan and headed for the tunnel.

I stopped at a drain and pulled it open. Afterwards, I withdrew my gun and stole a car to drive away.

It wasn't a fear of getting caught that pushed me to carry on. Rather, it was my desire to see her again that drove me to this. Why did I feel this way? Hell if I knew.

**A/N: **I know it may make less sense now, but hindsight will tell you later on that things have begun to reveal themselves. I will try to update again asap.


	11. Target Practice

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Alias nor do I own any of its characters. I don't even own my car, technically, the bank still does.

**A/N:** Thanks for sticking with the story, you guys are the best.

**Chapter 10- Target Practice**

---Isaac's POV----  
"Forget about that" I ordered, referring to that unexplainable scene occurring before my eyes. "Back to Sydney. Let her go."

"Let her go?" the man questioned me.

"Yes, the only place left to go is that mine field." I replied.

"So she can die, in a way, of her own doing." he concluded.

"No. I want those mines deactivated. Send our recruits after her. It's time for that real life training that they've been craving. First one to bring her back dead gets a job." I clarified.

"Dead, sir?" The man asked.

"Yes, dead. The recruits wont be able to bring her back here alive. Maybe if I were sending in more experienced people…"

"Then why the hell don't you?" He snapped.

"Don't get snaky with me." I retorted.

"Why can't we study her? I don't under-" he fumbled.

"THAT is precisely why you are not running this operation. Sydney failed me. I gave her a chance to redeem herself and she didn't. She chose to sneak out of the house instead of asking daddy for forgiveness. Punishment must ensue. Am I not correct in saying this?" I breathed.

"Death?" He questioned again.

"Unless you would like to join her then I suggest you shut that hole in your face and stop questioning me!" I yelled. "Until there are any changes in what we saw here today, I don't want to see your face. You get me?"

"I get you, sir." he bowed his head and walked out.

---Sydney's POV---

_This can't be it._ I thought to myself as I found myself outside suddenly. I had went down the hallway to the left and followed it to a door in which I hacked into to find the code to open it. I went through the door and found myself outside. I then jumped a fence and found myself staring at a forest. I sighed before I began walking. I had gotten approximately 20 meters before I heard a twig snap. I froze. _I knew it. _I prepared myself mentally, reminding myself that I had no weapons and knew nothing about my attacker. I steadied my breathing as I pretended to not notice the other person's presence. Maybe it was because of this that the person got too cocky and less careful. I spotted a glint of metal before it came hurling towards me. I dodged that knife easily as it became lodged into the tree beside me. Pulling the knife out of the tree, I glanced around. _Where are you?_ I turned around quickly as I heard a crash and someone mutter, "she's mine."

The sound of bullet tore apart the silence in the forest, but the actual bullets were not directed towards me. I decided to take the opportunity to run in the mean time.

"Don't move." A voice ordered. They had a gun pointed towards me.

The boy could not have been older than 19 and had shaggy brown hair that repeatedly got in his eyes as he tried to insert the magazine.

I had to smile briefly at his clumsiness and lack of experience before I sent 2 roundhouse kicks his way. The fight was over quickly as I took advantage of the fact that his chin had snapped up after the kick to take him down.

"Thanks." I whispered, as I stole his gun and magazines.

I could see the others, but I could hear most of them. I worked with what I had, opting for shooting towards the noises. The sound of my gunfire lured their gunfire into starting. I took off with a steady sprint. Tree branches swung into my face and scratched my arm as I ran through the forest, favoring my good leg. This way made all the more difficult due to the fact that I was shoeless. I changed directions suddenly running in a generally sporadic direction. Finally after several minutes I slowed down and grabbed onto a tree. I felt something trickling down my left arm and glanced to look at it.

"shit." I cursed softly. I had gotten hit. I realized it was a clean wound when I spotted the exit wound. I ripped off more of my shirt and wrapped it around my arm.

I took off again before I stumbled and fell. I reached for a tree branch before stumbling again.

"shit." I cursed again. I was starting to feel woozy. I needed to get out of here. This time I successfully managed to get up and run.

_What is that? _I asked myself after feeling something continually hitting against my chest. I slowed down and began to investigate. When I finally heard a beep after pressing the under wire of my bra I realized that I had just found a way to communicate with the outside world.

"Hello?" I spoke into it.

"Hello." someone responded.

---Issac's POV---  
"Should we pull back, sir?" A recruit asked into his com link.

"No, go with your plan b. Don't let me down." I ordered.

"Of course we wont sir." He replied.

---Sydney's POV---  
"Sark," I breathed a sigh of relief. "I need you to extract me."

"What's in it for me?" He asked.

I frowned at his response. "Sark." I yelled.

I glanced around making sure no one was around.

"I repeat, what's in it for me?"

I had no way of telling how many miles of forest there was.

I racked my mind trying to think of things Sark would want.

"Entrance into S and E." I whispered.

"You mean S & M?" He asked.

"No, S and E. Don't play stupid. You know what it is, or rather, I should say, who they are."

S and E was a very elite group of terrorists who had a front as an illegal racing crew.

"Impossible." He challenged me.

"Is it?" I asked.

I could hear uncertainty in the silence that followed.

---Sark's POV---  
"I'm tracking your location right now." I responded, forgetting all about the library, the man who sponsored charities, non-profit organizations and small businesses, and those pills that Sydney insisted on taking.

**A/N: **Questions, comments? Reviews and guilt make me update faster. Thanks so much, though, for all the reviews I have currently received. You guys are amazing and I'm sorry I don't say that enough.


	12. Help From Santa

**Disclaimer:** Alias is not mine.

**A/N: **It's been awhile. **If you remember what's going on in the story, **skip past the italics.

**Previously on Where You Gone When You're Gone:**

Sark's POV  
"I'm tracking your location right now." I responded, forgetting all about the library, the man who sponsored charities, non-profit organizations and small businesses, and those pills that Sydney insisted on taking.

**Chapter 11- Help from Santa**

_"Between birth and death lies desire, Desire for life, for love, for everything good. And this is the source of all suffering." -- Outcast Consensus 17, Why Existence?_ From Andromeda episode #116, The Sum of its Parts

---Vanessa's POV---  
_Do this, _I encouraged myself mentally. _Do this for him. _

"Here's everything I know about war: somebody wins, somebody loses, and nothing is ever the same again." I recited a line from Andromeda silently. "And it's time for somebody to lose."

I hit the speed dial number and awaited a response.

"Do you know what the hell is going on? Where are you?" Isaac yelled at me.

"Don't yell at me." I retorted, barely able to keep my voice from breaking.

"Where are you?" He repeated in a softer tone.

"That doesn't matter." I slowed my speed as I reached a red light. "What does matter is that I can tell you where Sydney is going."

---Sark's POV---  
I didn't stop the car, I merely slowed it down as I watched Sydney hobble towards me. I sped off again while she nursed her left arm.

"Look what you're doing to my seats." I snapped at her.

Wrong thing to say.

I noticed immediately her expression and tried to backtrack it before getting interrupted.

"Well I'm sorry Sark if my 2 bullet wounds are bleeding out and destroying your upholstery. What the hell was I thinking?" She barked.

I wanted to take back what I had said but decided against it after hearing her comeback. I opted, instead, to remain silent as I pulled on to the interstate.

"Sark," She groaned about half an hour later.

"Yeah?"

"I don't feel too good. I need my pills." she complained.

"What are they… magical pills or something. You seem to think that they cure every illness that you have." I commented.

I did not miss the fact that she failed to reply to this comment.

One glance in the rearview mirror told me that they weren't following us.

"So, tell me abut this Daniel Hefferman guy." I spoke to Sydney.

"What do you mean?" She questioned, stealing a glance at me.

"What did he do? I mean, he wasn't the healthiest guy in the world." I commented.

It took her awhile to respond. "I don't remember."

"You and your memory." I whispered softly.

"I remember some of it!" she snapped at me before continuing in a softer voice. "Just not everything. What I do remember is of no concern to you."

"I'm investigating this for your mother." I half-lied. "Isn't her concern rightly placed?"

"Not in this it isn't. Oh, get off at this exit."

"What?"

"Just get off."

I pulled off, cutting off a few cars in the process.

Sydney directed me towards a storage where she hobbled over to a room and unlocked it before heading inside.

Watching her close and lock the door I waited in suspense.

---Sydney's POV---

"What are we doing?" he asked me.

"_You _are waiting, and _I_ am going to bandage this up."

It took me a few minutes to pull out a bullets and clean my arm and leg. I changed into a simple tan colored short-sleeved Gadzooks shirt and some jean shorts complete with tan flip flops.

"What's with the outfit?" He asked.

"We're going on a little field trip. Oh and, I got you one too."

I made sure to get quite a distance away from Sark before he found out what he was going to be wearing.

---Vanessa's POV---  
Sounds emitting from the horn's of other cars awoke me. I wiped the tears from my eyes and hoped that my embarrassment from crying myself to sleep would soon go away.

"Yeah real mature there asshole." I muttered as a guy passed me while giving me the bird.

I took a breath and raised up the volume as I sped up and left all the other cars at was now the second red light at that intersection.

"I need your arms to hold me now, the nights are so unkind." I sang sadly as I reached for my phone once again. "Bring back those nights when I held you beside me."

So many times, so many night I had shielded my heart from the fact that he only came whenever someone else had pushed him away. He came when he had no where else to vent an emotion. I was how he stayed emotionless.

"Uncry these tears… I cried so many nights. Unbreak my hearrrt."

What could I say? He had made it very clear what this was. How could I be mad at him for sticking to his word. He was after all, a man of his word.

"Time is so unkind and life is so cruel without you here beside me."

"Hello?" He greeted me.

"One thing. I'm going to tell you one thing and then I never wanna hear from you again." I struggled to keep my voice at a normal octave. "The pills. Sydney and the pills."

I ended the conversation before he could respond and flung my phone into the passenger seat.

---Sark's POV---  
I stole a glance at Sydney as we pulled away from a gas station. I noticed a bottle beside her.

_Had she taken those pills again? What did Vanessa mean by Sydney and the pills? _

I was going to ask her about the pills when she informed me that we had reached out destination.

I could not believe what I was seeing. It seemed as surreal as the clothes I was wearing- baggy jeans and a wife beater. Sure, it wasn't like anything in any of the Fast and the Furious movies, but it was interesting. They didn't need to worry about the cops around here because they were on their payroll. 6 cars "raced" at a time. The drivers would be accompanied by a passenger. During the race they would transmit messages to one another and hold their meeting. If they ran out of time then someone would simply shout "best 2 out of 3!" and then they would repeat this all over again. 'The crowd' was simply a bunch of agents who worked for the head honchos who drove the cars. They were there to back up there boss if the time called for it.

"Whose your friend?" A guy called after Sydney after a race. He was in baggy jeans and a loose fitting black t-shirt. However, since the guy had muscles like a WWE champ, the shirt didn't hide much. He must have been 6' 3''. The buzz cut look on his head finished off his appearance, making him appear to be someone who might have no trouble at least qualifying for the Marines.

"Sark. But you knew that already, didn't you?" She replied coolly.

"I'd be dead if I didn't know the players in this game. Anyone would."

"And this," Sydney turned to introduce the man, "is Sebastian."

My facial expression revealed that I already knew who this man was.

"Now that the necessities are over with, let's talk business."

Sydney led us to a restaurant nearby. It's walls were plain and white while the actual room was filled with overstuffed booths and black and white tiled floors.

"Hi, we'll have 3 shrimp fried rice, please." Sydney ordered.

I watched as Sebastian grinned.

"Um, we'll have 2 shrimp fried rice and 1 Rosemary chicken with oven roasted potatoes and chef vegetables." I spoke up, eyeing Sydney as I did. I did her silently to challenge me.

She congratulated me with her eyes before crossing her legs slowly and informing the waiter of what we wanted to drink.

"I'll have any red wine, he'll have a Corona, and he," she glanced at me coyly, "will have anything you can concoct back there with fiber. The more the better."

The waiter glanced at me.

"Sweetie," I rubbed Sydney's hand softly, "no need to be shy. The waiter doesn't really care if its really for you. It's okay."

"Can I see your list of your-" I started before Sydney flashed me a look.

"I'll have a… Corona as well."

_To be an actor you have to look and act the part,_ I reminded myself.

"So, what are we talking about?" Sebastian questioned once the waiter had left.

"Sark's induction." She responded.

"Into what?" Sebastian questioned.

"What do you think?"

"I think you're out of your fucking mind." he snapped.

"And I think someone is forgetting all about our deal." Sydney sighed and popped another pill as soon as the waiter brought her wine.

"You shouldn't be taking those pills with alcohol. In fact, you shouldn't be taking them at all." he pointed out.

She scoffed.

"Is this why its taking so goddamn long?" He demanded to know. One of his muscles seemed to randomly twitch.

"No. Now get the fuck out of my face." She whispered angrily.

"Let's go." I demanded.. I pulled Sydney out of her seat and dragged her out of the restaurant.

I didn't speak until I had gotten a good 25 minutes away.

"What the fuck is going on here?" I demanded.

"What do you mean?" she responded faintly.

"I'm not obtuse. So stop acting like I am. What's going on? Who was Daniel Hefferman? Why do you take those pills, really? What the hell is going on?"

**A/N:** Comments? Questions… they make me update faster.


	13. A little less conversation, a little mor

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the business, songs, quotes, shoes and clothing brands, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Leaves of Grass, Alias or anything else that someone might own in this story.

**A/N: **_Thanks for sticking with this story. _**_Skip past the italicized if you know what's going on. _**An extra-long chapter awaits you all! Enjoy.

"The loyal heart  
has hidden treasures.  
In secrets kept,  
In silence sealed." Comes from _Andromeda_ episode 302 - "The Shards Of Rimni"

_**Previously on Where You Go When You're Gone:**_

"

I didn't speak until I had gotten a good 25 minutes away.

"What the fuck is going on here?" I demanded.

"What do you mean?" she responded faintly.

**Chapter 12- A little less conversation, A little more action**

---Sydney's POV---

I remained quiet for countless minutes. After this continued for some time, Sark purposefully brushed up against my wounded arm.

I hissed and cradled, to the best of my ability, my left arm.

"Who is he? Who is he really?" His tone was harsh and unforgiving.

"Daniel… was the man I was ordered to take out." I admitted, releasing my arm.

"You know I know that already. Who is he _really?_"

"I don't… Isaac." A tear slid down my cheek.

"Isaac?" He questioned, briefly taking his eyes off the road.

"He's everybody and… nobody." I sighed.

"What?"

"He has perfected the art of becoming someone else. I saw him become so many people."

Sark glanced at me.

"Not the way _we_ become people." I noticed Sark pulling into a motel. I shot him a questioning glance before continuing. "His whole- body, it always looked like he had undergone Project Helix. It- I… Daniel. I don' want to talk about Daniel."

The silence was stuffy. It stretched on past the parking of the car.

It was only broken after Sark threw me his jacket and uttered something.

"What was that?" I questioned.

"Nothing, just, take the jacket." I rolled my eyes, wrapping it tighter about me.

"We wouldn't want these _lovely _people to inquire about those bullet wounds." He led the way.

"Nothing we can do about the leg though…" He added.

He was right, my shorts just missed covering up the wound.

The night sky allowed the green neon sign to illuminate even more. The door to the office swung open and the sound of bells could be heard.

A gaudy, mammoth desk greeted us as we walked into the door. The person behind the desk was typing away and listening to music. The words to "Momma Told Me Not to Come" blared out from the speakers.

"Can I help you?" The guy asked, pushing the computer screen away so that we could see him. He had trimmed brown hair and inquisitive green eyes. The A & F shirt he was wearing hinted that he might have been younger than the music he was listening to suggested.

"We'd like to get a room," Sark stepped forward. He added, seemingly as an afterthought, "please."

"What's the name?" the guy asked, turning back to his computer.

"Emerson" Sark spoke up, pulling out an ID.

The guy glanced at it before returning it.

"How many beds?"

"Umm…" I spoke up before I was interrupted.

"What's that?" The young man, who had to have been 22, was eying the wound on my leg.

I opened my mouth… and then closed it.

"We just got back together." Sark came to my rescue, wrapping an arm around me. "Got a little rough. It'd been a long time. You understand."

The guy, whose name was Marty, or so his nametag claimed, scanned my eyes for any hint of deceit.

"Sweetie," I whispered loudly, malice underlying my words, "that's _private_."

"Nothing he hasn't seen in this day and age. Am I right?"

I gaped at Sark.

"So, I'm assuming you want one bed?" Marty questioned.

---Vanessa's POV---

I sighed and placed the headphones over my ears. The music drowned out the voices of those around me. The woman who was sitting beside me must have gotten up because I no longer felt an elbow jabbing into my sides. When I glanced up, my assumption was confirmed. She was currently searching for something in her suitcase.

_It's nice to know that you were there  
Thanks for acting like you cared  
And making me feel like I was the only one  
It's nice to know we had it all  
Thanks for watching as I fall  
And letting me know we were done_

I snuggled into my seat. Only to feel the pressure of the woman's elbow return.

_You were everything, everything that I wanted  
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it  
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away  
All this time you were pretending  
So much for my happy ending  
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh..._

The song abruptly changed as the woman mistook my radio for hers. I was going to argue with her; but when I realized that it was a childhood favorite of mine, I changed my mind.

"When I was just a little girl I asked my mother What will I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? Here's what she said to me:" I sang softly.

"Mam," the woman pulled down my headphones, or tugged, I should say, " would you kindly please keep your voice down. You're disturbing me."

"Well your _elbow _which seems to have a fondness for _jabbing _me in my side is bothering me. Just upping the score a little." I slipped back on my headphones and sang loud and obnoxiously. "Que sera sera! Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see.  
Que sera, sera…"

I caught one last glimpse at the plane filled with all different kind of people sitting in the plush blue seats before I closed my eyes.

---Jack's POV---

"Marshall, have you found anything else on Sydney?" I questioned.

"No, but look at this. Sark was captured on a video camera at a library." He informed me.

"Okay, so he can read, what's the point? What does that have to do with Sydney?"

"Look at this." I watched him type some information into the computer and within seconds the pictures popped up. "If you take a gander at this one, you see Sark is teaching a boy how to sneak an inappropriate movie, which is just making matters worse. Librarians need to watch the older people to. I guess that kinda makes Sark like that kid's drug dealer. It's polluting his mind like drugs and once he gets-"

"Marshall!" I yelled. "Sydney… get back to how this is connected to Sydney."

"Well, in this one," he paused while he brought another picture to the screen. "we see him doing some research. Just a little harmless 'who wrote Leaves of Grass' you ask? No. Sark was researching Daniel Hefferman."

"So… if he needed to research him, doesn't that make him as ignorant as we are in this subject?" I took a seat.

"Maybe, or maybe this picture…" He pulled up another one of Sark passing into the back. "The one of Sark passing into the area where the public is not supposed to go… maybe this will say something different."

"Why was he researching…" I asked myself.

"I don't know, but I can guarantee you this: whatever's going on, Sark's involved."

"Can you see what else you can come up with. Report back to me as soon as you're finished." Remembering something Sydney once told me, I stopped and paused.

"And Marshall…"

"Yeah?" He questioned his back to me.

"…" I sighed. "thanks."

---Sark's POV---

I paused as soon as I turned around. Sydney is sprawled across the entire bed.

"_Sweetheart," _I call out a little forcefully as I finished changing. "Could you please move over so I have somewhere to sleep."

Sydney froze for a moment before rolling over to face me. I rolled my eyes as she batted her at me. "Oh, baby, that's so kind of you to take the floor. Goodnight."

"I don't sleep on the ground. Therefore… I guess I'm gonna have to sleep on the only comfortable place left."

I dropped my entire weight on her as I fell onto the bed.

"Sark," She yelled but it came out as more of a giggle. "Get off."

"Is that what you really want?" I smirked down at her.

"What I want is-"

"_A little less conversation, a little more action please  
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me  
A little more bite and a little less bark  
A little less fight and a little more spark  
Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me  
Satisfy me baby"_

"Is that the phone?" she asked, pushing me off of her.

I watched her stroll over to the room phone and pick it up.

"_Come on baby I'm tired of talking  
Grab your coat and let's-"  
_

"Hello?" I got up to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"_Hi, I'm Marty, from the front desk, don't worry, I'm not gonna ask you why the phone was taking so long to ring. I'm just here to ask, given your situation, if you'd prefer to have us ignore any incoming calls for the two of you." _

"Umm.. Yeah. Sure."

"_Okay, I'll try not to disturb you two again. Have a nice night." _

Sydney hung up the phone. "That was Marty… as you already know from your proximity."

"So… I didn't picture you as the _motel _type." She dropped back onto the bed.

"Motels don't ask a lot of questions. They're easier to get into in a hurry."

"Why didn't you use one of your contacts?" She probed.

I remained silent for a while. "Why didn't you contact the CIA?"

Silence descended upon us once again.

"That's right. You'd have to explain everything, now wouldn't you?" I retorted.

"Is that why you didn't use your contacts?"

"I'm going to sleep." I uttered, pushing her over to gain access to the bed.

(((An Hour Later)))

I finally pulled my eyes open and glanced at Sydney. The steady breathing hinted that she was asleep.

"Sydney," I whispered softly into her ear. "Sydney."

Without so much as a creak, I rose from the bed and searched through the few things that Sydney had obtained from storage. Sure enough, I found a stash of pills amongst her things. Holding it in one hand, I pulled out my cell phone and headed to the bathroom.

The person picked up in a faster time then it took me to look for his number.

"Hello?" He sounded sleepy.

"Yeah, I need a favor." I eyed the bottle of pills.

---Isaac's POV---

I eyed the building with malice.

"You can run but you can't hide."

The Glock poking out of my pocket made me smile.

The brisk evening air made me wrap my black fur coat around myself. This time, I was dressed as a slightly overweight woman with gaudy jewelry. My attire was also accented with my pedicure, manicure, tiara, and Fioni thong shoes. The black frilly dress I was wearing showed off my "bust." The silver bracelets clashed together creating a cacophony of sounds as I assured myself that the weapon was still in my pocket. As I neared the room I removed my bracelets and deposited them in my purse. I also slipped my shoes in them as well. After checking to make sure nobody was around, I hid my purse behind a vending machine and hurried over to the room. The lock was easy to pick. It was merely a shoddy motel, after all. Without a sound, the door slid open and the moonlight illuminated a sleeping figure on the bed. I pulled out my gun.

"The loyal heart has hidden treasures. In secrets kept, In silence sealed." I uttered softly. "I can't let those secrets get out."

Two shots ran out into the night.

---Unknown POV---

"Stranger in the night; a stranger no more." I walked over to Isaac's body to feel for a pulse. There wasn't one. "I waited so _fucking _long to be your favorite. Yet, she just waltzes in and _tada_, you're all for her. Well fuck you Isaac."

My breathing labored as I dragged Isaac's body from the doorway. The person in the bed watched me.

"Well don't just fucking sit there, get the fuck and help me." I ordered.

"You need to learn some manners. I didn't hear 'please' come out of your mouth once, Vanessa." The girl ripped off her wig and rolled out of bed.

I glare at her and add, in an unnaturally jovial voice, "please?"

She shuts the door and locked it before returning to the body.

"Besides, how could she be his favorite? He was coming to kill her." The girl pointed out, picking up his legs.

"She was. If someone else had pulled this stunt, by the time he was finished with him or her, they'd be begging to get shot. Also, he took the time- on the bed." We hauled the body up onto the bed where we had laid down our own sheets. "Fuck, he's in a dress. Grab that shirt and those pants, _please._"

Meanwhile, I stripped him of his outfit.

"What are you doing?" The girl stopped and stared at me.

"I'll be damned if I don't figure out what was behind those masks for all these years." I pealed off, with some struggle, the neck fat before moving onto the rest of his face.

"How can you even be sure it's him?"

"Because, she's his favorite. He wouldn't send anybody else to do the job. It's personal." I assured her.

I peeled back the last of his face and gaped at what I saw.

**A/N: **Questions? Comments? You know the drill.


	14. Revelations

**Disclaimer: **Alias is not mine.

**A/N: **I have yet to decide how many chapters are left, but this story is dwindling to a close. Sorry about the late update, I haven't been home for about a week and when I returned I had to upload ALL of my stories onto a thumb drive (I may have lost the remaining chapters for one of my other stories). I also have to squeeze in work and some required summer reading.

_**Previously on **_**Where You Go When You're Gone:**

_---**Sark's POV**---_

"_So… I didn't picture you as the motel type." She dropped back onto the bed._

"_Motels don't ask a lot of questions. They're easier to get into in a hurry."_

"_Why didn't you use one of your contacts?" She probed._

_I remained silent for a while. "Why didn't you contact the CIA?" _

_Silence descended upon us once again._

"_That's right. You'd have to explain everything, now wouldn't you?" I retorted. _

"_Is that why you didn't use your contacts?"_

"_I'm going to sleep." I uttered, pushing her over to gain access to the bed. _

_---Sark's POV---_

_Without so much as a creak, I rose from the bed and searched through the few things that Sydney had obtained from storage. Sure enough, I found a stash of pills amongst her things. Holding it in one hand, I pulled out my cell phone and headed to the bathroom._

_The person picked up in a faster time then it took me to look for his number._

"_Hello?" He sounded sleepy._

"_Yeah, I need a favor." I eyed the bottle of pills. _

_---Vanessa's POV---_

"_I'll be damned if I don't figure out what was behind those masks for all these years." I pealed off, with some struggle, the neck fat before moving onto the rest of his face._

"_How can you even be sure it's him?" _

"_Because, she's his favorite. He wouldn't send anybody else to do the job. It's personal." I assured her. _

_I peeled back the last of his face and gaped at what I saw. _

**Chapter 13- Revelations**

---Sydney's POV---

"Thought I'd do you the favor of returning these to you." Sark sat himself down at the picnic table. We were in the middle of a beautiful park. The benches and picnic tables stood disserted, intruders amongst the thriving foliage. The shade provided was a relief.

"I would thank you, but then again there is that tiny little detail… that you _took it _in the first place." I released the leaf that I had been playing with in my hands.

"Yeah there is that. Care to ask about what I discovered?"

"What, oh, what did you discover Mr. Columbus?" I rolled my eyes.

"The pills aren't approved by the FDA." He pointed out.

"Ok." I shrugged it off, but inside I began to question this. I didn't want to appear as if I didn't really know what I had been depending on for so long. Not when I had so vehemently insisted on the continued use of it.

"Ok? You're not gonna question what some of the side effects were? What its history is? What it was used for?"

"What is it used for?" I sat up straighter, not bothering to feign a lack of interest now.

"It's used in conjunction with another device. Its sort of… a battery."

"A... a battery?" I scoffed at this. "Why in the hell would Isaac want me to take a battery?"

"It's not an actual battery but it functions along those same lines. It's not the pill itself that's the problem; it's what the pill supplies to the other device. I'm not quite sure how it helps the dreams or if it causes the dreams because not a lot of research went into that part but the pill does increase the level of Serotonin and the endorphins.

"He wanted me to apologize for my mistakes. If I do that then I could try to get back into Isaac's good graces. If that happens then it would be possible to check their databases for anything about the pill. What about the other device?" I glanced at Sark.

"I didn't receive any Intel on it. How do you contact them?"

"I go onto a website and go through a set of procedures."

"Could you access it from any computer?" He questioned as he stood up.

"Yeah," I followed him towards the car. "I don't know how trusting they'll be this time around; I can try. We might have to bring S & E into this."

Sark unlocked the car and hopped in. "Sebastian didn't seem that willing to accept me the first time around ."

I reminded him that Sebastian still owed me a favor.

---Vanessa's POV--

I stared at the face of a familiar face. He had been my art teacher senior year.

"You know him?" the girl questioned me.

"Yeah," I nodded my head. "Mr. Maxwell."

"So… who is he? What'd he do?" The girl did nothing to hide her interest. "did he have a wife?"

The time I answered more softly. "yeah."

I gently stroked him face before sitting back on my heels. I squeezed my eyes shut, refusing to allow myself to acknowledge what had happened.

"Look at this." She showed me his voice modifier. "Luke… I am your father!"

"Can you give me a few minutes alone with him… please?"

"Yeah, sure. Hell if I care." she skipped into the bathroom and promptly shut the door.

I curled up next to Matt on the bed. I whispered so that she wouldn't hear me- not that it would matter; she wouldn't eavesdrop. "I guess this is fitting. I should feel… relieved. I don't."

My voice was breaking and I suddenly felt so cold. "I feel so alone."

I lost track of the time. Sometime later she reentered the room and separated the two of us.

"How did you know him?" she was really bad at hiding her curiosity.

"I had an affair with him. Senior year and a little bit of my freshmen year in college." I admitted.

"how did you…"

"His voice was always modified a different way, his appearance constantly changed and his prints were never the same. Plus, he didn't behave the way I was used to him behaving. And.. I guess you don't really get to know someone through simple, casual, 'meaningless' sex." I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes.

---Jack's POV---

**InyourEyes: **Hello Jack.

**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse**: Hello Irina.

**InyourEyes: **Sark contacted me. It seems he has made a breakthrough.

**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse: **What'd he find?

**InyourEyes: **The pills she was taking, they're used to power another device. There's a mole. That's how the organization's finding out their information.

**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse**: Where's Sydney?

**InyourEyes: **Sark has her.

---Vanessa's POV---

We drove to a patch of land where we would be able to freely dig a grave.

In silence, the grave was dug. No prayer or eulogy was stated.

"You made me feel so worthless and ashamed, you asshole." I cried out. "And yet, I loved you. Goodbye."

After flattening out the earth of the actual grave, we left. A solemn feeling in the air.

---Sydney's POV---

The wind was nonexistent. The inside of the Camry was bare. The tinted windows were rolled up. Sark sat at the wheel because I was more familiar with the procedure. Curled up in the passenger seat, I had a notebook sprawled across my lap. I typed in a password and awaited the conformation.

"I've got say," Sark started up the car. "This has got to be the most interesting business meeting I have ever attended.

**A/N: **Questions/ Comments? Guilt and praise are the best motivators.


	15. Random Castration

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Alias, McGriddles, McDonalds, or McDonald's Iced Coffee. I also down own the lyrics, the song, or the beat to _Something to Talk About_.

**A/N: **Sorry it's been awhile. You know the drill: **skip past the italics if you remember what's going on.** The name of the song used in this chapter is _Something to Talk About _by Bonnie Raitt

Previously on _Where You Go When You're Gone_:

_---Isaac's POV---_

"_Who is that?" I repeated, never failing to take my eyes off the screen._

"_I have no idea. I could find out." I could see him inching for the door. _

"_Is that what I think it is?" I was now completely fascinated with the scene unfolding in front of me. _

"_It looks like the history of his life… is being written. How is that possible? Sir?" His breath was coming uneven now. _

_I couldn't blame him for on the screen was a man standing at attention on display. However, what was strange about it was that he was dead. On top of that, words seemed to be materializing out of nowhere onto a paper beneath him that told his life story. _

"_I don't-" I stopped in mid-sentence. The man on the tape had just stared at me. _

_My fingers fumbled quickly for the power. "Turn it off now! Get that out of here." In my effort to get away, I had turned over my chair. _

"_Shit." I breathed out. _

"_Sir? Sir," the man was unsure of how to proceed. "What's going on? What do we do?"_

_---Jack's POV---_

"_Marshall!" I yelled. "Sydney… get back to how this is connected to Sydney."_

"_Well, in this one," he paused while he brought another picture to the screen. "we see him doing some research. Just a little harmless 'who wrote Leaves of Grass' you ask? No. Sark was researching Daniel Hefferman."_

"_So… if he needed to research him, doesn't that make him as ignorant as we are in this subject?" I took a seat._

"_Maybe, or maybe this picture…" He pulled up another one of Sark passing into the back. "The one of Sark passing into the area where the public is not supposed to go… maybe this will say something different."_

"_Why was he researching…" I asked myself._

"_I don't know, but I can guarantee you this: whatever's going on, Sark's involved."_

"_Can you see what else you can come up with. Report back to me as soon as you're finished." Remembering something Sydney once told me, I stopped and paused._

"_And Marshall…"_

"_Yeah?" He questioned his back to me._

"…" _I sighed. "thanks."_

_---Vanessa's POV---_

"_Stranger in the night; a stranger no more." I walked over to Isaac's body to feel for a pulse. There wasn't one. "I waited so fucking long to be your favorite. Yet, she just waltzes in and tada, you're all for her. Well fuck you Isaac."_

_My breathing labored as I dragged Isaac's body from the doorway. The person in the bed watched me._

…

"_I'll be damned if I don't figure out what was behind those masks for all these years." I pealed off, with some struggle, the neck fat before moving onto the rest of his face._

"_How can you even be sure it's him?" _

"_Because, she's his favorite. He wouldn't send anybody else to do the job. It's personal." I assured her. _

_I peeled back the last of his face and gaped at what I saw. _

_---Sydney's POV---_

"_It's not an actual battery but it functions along those same lines. It's not the pill itself that's the problem; it's what the pill supplies to the other device. I'm not quite sure how it helps the dreams or if it causes the dreams because not a lot of research went into that part but the pill does increase the level of Serotonin and the endorphins. _

"_He wanted me to apologize for my mistakes. If I do that then I could try to get back into Isaac's good graces. If that happens then it would be possible to check their databases for anything about the pill. What about the other device?" I glanced at Sark._

"_I didn't receive any Intel on it. How do you contact them?" _

"_I go onto a website and go through a set of procedures." _

"_Could you access it from any computer?" He questioned as he stood up._

"_Yeah," I followed him towards the car. "I don't know how trusting they'll be this time around; I can try. We might have to bring S & E into this." _

_Sark unlocked the car and hopped in. "Sebastian didn't seem that willing to accept me the first time around ."_

_I reminded him that Sebastian still owed me a favor. _

_---Vanessa's POV--_

_I stared at the face of a familiar face. He had been my art teacher senior year. _

"_You know him?" the girl questioned me._

"_Yeah," I nodded my head. "Mr. Maxwell." _

"_So… who is he? What'd he do?" The girl did nothing to hide her interest. "did he have a wife?"_

_The time I answered more softly. "yeah." _

…

"_How did you know him?" she was really bad at hiding her curiosity._

"_I had an affair with him. Senior year and a little bit of my freshmen year in college." I admitted. _

"_how did you…"_

"_His voice was always modified a different way, his appearance constantly changed and his prints were never the same. Plus, he didn't behave the way I was used to him behaving. And.. I guess you don't really get to know someone through simple, casual, 'meaningless' sex." I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes. _

_---Jack's POV---_

_**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse: **What'd he find?_

_**InyourEyes: **The pills she was taking, they're used to power another device. There's a mole. That's how the organization's finding out their information. _

_**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse**: Where's Sydney?_

_**InyourEyes: **Sark has her. _

_---Sydney's POV---_

_The wind was nonexistent. The inside of the Camry was bare. The tinted windows were rolled up. Sark sat at the wheel because I was more familiar with the procedure. Curled up in the passenger seat, I had a notebook sprawled across my lap. I typed in a password and awaited the conformation. _

"_I've got say," Sark started up the car. "This has got to be the most interesting business meeting I have ever attended. _

**Chapter 14- Random Castration**

"_Let's go home, get stoned, we could end up makin love instead of misery." _Get Stoned by Hinder

---Sydney's POV---

The "meeting" had been something. They were only willing to return the favor they owed me. S & E wasn't sure if they were willing to do anything else for me. Long story short, either Sark could be inducted into their organization… or they could help me with this Isaac thing. I told them that I needed to think about it, but the only thing I needed to think over was how to convince Sark to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Pull in here." I ordered, spotting a sign.

"In here?"

We were still in the Camry, in our respective positions in the car. The wind blew in through the windows.

"Yeah, I'm hungry." I thought it over for a second. "You want anything? I'm buying."

We hurried inside and waited in line. Sark looked out of place, in this brightly lit building.

"Good morning, how can I help you?" a man of about 43 greeted me. His hat hit his red hair.

I ordered quickly and asked Sark what he wanted.

His witty response was cut short with one glare. "Whatever the lady said."

I smiled triumphantly and scooted over to make room for the next person to order.

When our food was prepared, I took a seat outside.

"What is this?" Sark glanced down at his food.

"It's a McGriddle." I shrugged my shoulders and bit into the tasteful delectable.

"A Mcwhat? What kind of breakfast is this?" He pulled the pancakes "bread" off the top. Sark surveyed what he had ordered.

"Put it all together. It'll be delicious." I assured him, between bites.

He took a sip of the iced coffee and stopped. "That is the shittiest coffee I have ever tasted."

"It's not that bad. Put some sugar or something in it. About that meeting we had…" I trailed off, eyeing his reaction… or lack of.

"What about it?" Sark took a cautious bite of the McGriddle.

I put down my food and wiped my mouth with a napkin. "We're using them for Isaac."

"Are we?" Sark's voice was dangerously low.

"Yes." Sark met my gaze.

"Interesting…"

"Yes, it is. I guess you missed a side effect of those pills. Random castration seems to occur."

"I guess I'll have it take my chance. Since it's random and all."

Sark suddenly broke out into an all out grin. It was odd to see it on his face and I was extremely intrigued as to what had put it there.

"What?" I snapped.

"You don't hate me." He laughed and shook his head. "I guess that rules out "random" castration. Huh."

I remained silent since I wasn't quite sure what the hell had just taken place here.

I threw some syrup at Sark. "Eat your McGriddle."

The alarm on my phone went off. Unfortunately, I had set it to the song 'A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action.' So, when I glanced at, I was met with a smirking Sark.

"I didn't realize that night at the motel was so memorable."

I ignored his comment, eyeing the ball pit and its lack of occupants. I glanced inside before I shrugged off my shoes and dove in. I allowed myself to stay submerged.

"Sydney, let's go. That's very childish." Sark called out form somewhere.

I stayed perfectly still.

"Sydney. I'm gonna leave."

He wasn't going anywhere. He had already risked so much by doing this.

I moved slowly, making sure that no noise was made. I slid up into the tubes that extend into another part of McDonald's play area. I hurried past all the windows, hoping Sark couldn't see me. Perhaps "hurried" isn't the best word. When you're no longer 6 or 7, it's kind of hard to get anywhere to quickly in that contraption.

"Sydney!" Sark's voice was now distorted. "I'm not coming in there after you."

A car backfire was heard in the distance.

"Sydney!"

_Ooh, ooh, ooh,  
People are talkin', talkin' 'bout people,  
I hear them whisper, you won't believe it.  
They think we're lovers kept under cover,  
I just ignore it but they keep sayin' we...  
Laugh just a little too loud,  
Stand just a little too close,  
We stare just a little too long.  
Maybe they're seein', somethin' we don't darlin'_

At the sound of someone in the ball pit, I had to stifle my laughter with both of my hands.

I crawled through back to the ball pit. With one leg hanging down lazily and a curved back, I called out to Sark.

"You do realize that you don't have to actually swim to get to where you're going, right?" I let out a short laugh before I was pulled into the ball pit.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Were you worried about me?" I let out a small laugh. "I've always wanted to go back in one of those. And how often are these things deserted. I didn't want to waste the opportunity."

Sark thought it over for a second. "Let's go."

"Oh, come on. You've never wanted to jump back in one of these things? How good did it feel jumping in a few minutes ago?" I egged him on.

"No, Sydney, I have no desire to jump into a pile of balls. I don't see why you would."

"I'm calling you on that."

I pushed him back down into the balls.

_Let's give 'em somethin' to talk about  
(Somethin' to talk about)  
Let's give 'em somethin' to talk about  
(Somethin' to talk about)  
Let's give 'em somethin' to talk about  
How about love?_

I jumped in after him after I saw a McDonald's worker coming outside to sweep.

"Shhh." I whispered to Sark.

He gave me a look but he didn't verbally question my actions. The sound of sweeping could be heard.

"Pigs." the lady muttered. "They can't even clean up after themselves."

"I can-" Sark started in retort.

I did the only thing I could think of to keep our location secret. I kissed him.

I kissed him gently on the lips before I began trailing kisses along his jaw line.

_I feel so foolish, I never noticed  
You act so nervous, could you be fallin' for me?  
It took the rumor to make me wonder,  
Now I'm convinced that I'm goin' under.  
Thinkin' 'bout you every day,  
Dreamin' 'bout you every night.  
I'm hopin' that you feel the same way,  
Now that we know it, let's really show it darlin'._

He moved a little and the balls began collapsing rapidly.

"Who's in there?" the woman sounded cautious.

"Shit." I whispered. "Now I'm ready to go."

I stood up and pulled Sark along with me as we walked over to the entrance of the ball pit.

"Were you making out in there? That ball pit is for _children _8 years and under. Can't you read?" She pointed to a sign at the door that led inside.

"No actually, I can't read." Sark spoke with immense sincerity and anger.

_Let's give 'em somethin' to talk about  
(Somethin' to talk about)  
A little mystery to figure out  
(Somethin' to talk about)  
Let's give 'em somethin' to talk about  
How about love?_

"oh…" The woman shook the blonde hair out of her eyes. "Well, I'm sorry you can't ready but you can't be in there. Please exit the ball pit in an orderly fashion."

I climbed out and pulled on my shoes.

"With shoes!" She shrieked. "No shoes on in the ball pit."

"I wouldn't very well take off my shoes now would I? Do you know how ridiculous it would look if you saw a grown man walking around without any shoes in there?"

I could barely hold in a snicker. _Not as ridiculous as seeing a grown man playing in ball pit. _

The worker let out a frustrated sigh. Her blonde hair fell back into her face as she continued sweeping.

"I don't suppose that was your mess." She pointed to our table.

"We never we were finished." I pointed out and quickly pulled Sark out into the parking lot before she could respond…

"Take you and your horny ass boyfriend out of here!"

… almost.

Our laughing subsided as she got into the car.

I turned my head to face Sark. "I still hate you."

_Let's give 'em somethin' to talk about babe,  
A little mystery to figure out.  
Let's give 'em somethin' to talk about,  
How about love? Ooh...  
Listen to 'em baby  
(Somethin' to talk about)  
A little mystery won't hurt 'em  
(Somethin' to talk about)  
Let's give 'em somethin' to talk  
How about our love, love, love, love  
Whoowhoo mmmm hey oohh whoowhoo  
About love, love, love, love  
How about they talk about it? uh huh  
Talk about love..._

---Vanessa's POV---

"Holy Shit." I let out a breath.

"What is it?" Jessica came running up to me. Her brown hair glistening.

"Only you." I shook my head.

"What?"

"Only you could still have perfect hair in a crisis." I retorted, moving over.

"What crisis?"

I showed her the screen.

It became eerily quiet. I recognized the man on the screen. I hadn't seen him in a long time. He was dead. Below him lay a single piece of paper.

"He looks like…" Jessica stared intently.

"Like he's on display." I finished for her.

The writing on the piece of paper was getting longer. However, no one was around to be writing on it.

"Is that his life?" I asked to no one in particular.

The paper seemed to be about his entire life.

"Holy Shit." I breathed.

I knew what this was.

**A/N: **Questions? Comments? Reviews make me update faster.


	16. Incompatibility

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Alias.

**A/N: **The song used in this chapter is called "Back Home" by Yellowcard. (I do not own the lyrics, the beat of anything else associated with that song). The quote "_What counts …incompatibility,"_ was stated by Leo Tolstoy.

Previously on '_Where You Go When You're Gone:'_

_---Sydney's POV---_

_The "meeting" had been something. They were only willing to return the favor they owed me. S & E wasn't sure if they were willing to do anything else for me. Long story short, either Sark could be inducted into their organization… or they could help me with this Isaac thing. I told them that I needed to think about it, but the only thing I needed to think over was how to convince Sark to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. _

…

_I did the only thing I could think of to keep our location secret. I kissed him. _

_I kissed him gently on the lips before I began trailing kisses along his jaw line. _

_---Vanessa's POV---_

_It became eerily quiet. I recognized the man on the screen. I hadn't seen him in a long time. He was dead. Below him lay a single piece of paper. _

"_He looks like…" Jessica stared intently._

"_Like he's on display." I finished for her._

_The writing on the piece of paper was getting longer. However, no one was around to be writing on it. _

"_Is that his life?" I asked to no one in particular. _

_The paper seemed to be about his entire life. _

"_Holy Shit." I breathed. _

_I knew what this was._

**Chapter 15- Incompatibility**

---Sydney's POV---

"Are we going to talk about what happened back there?" Sark brought the question up, casually.

"How you selfishly refused to let the Isaac thing be the one favor I get from S & E?" I knew what he was talking about, I just refused to acknowledge it.

We had plenty of time to 'talk about it' since we were currently stuck in traffic.

"_That _subject's closed. I was talking about the kiss." He turned to stare at me, most likely to gauge my reaction.

"So I kissed you, what are you 12? Do you really need to make a big deal out of this?"

I turned on the radio to tune him out.

_Another sunny day in Cal-I-forn-I-A,_

_I'm sure back home they'd love to see it,_

_But they don't know that what you love is ripped away,_

_Before you get a chance to feel it_

_Everybody here is living life in fear of fallin' out of line_

_Tearin lives apart, breaking lots of heats just to-_

Sark turned off the radio and stared at me. "Why is this such a big deal to you?"

"It's not." I allowed my gaze to wander over to the next car. The couple up front were making out.

Sark moved up the car a grand total of 2 feet before he had to brake once again.

"If it's not a big deal, then why are you so insistent on forgetting what happened?"

"Because it was a mistake!" I nearly jumped up from my seat with anger.

"Which strengthens my point that you shouldn't just forget it. You learn from your mistakes, or don't you?"

"Fuck… you." I turned back on the radio.

_Another sunny day beneath this cloudless sky,_

_Sometimes I wish that it would rain here,_

_And wash away this west coast dreamin from my eyes_

_There's nothing real for them to see here._

_Another starry night in Cal-I-forn-I-A,_

_I'm sure back home they'd love to see it_

_But they don't know that what you love is ripped away_

_Before you get a chance to feel it. _

"What do you want do you want me to say? That I enjoyed it?" I was nearly screaming now.

"Just.. Honesty, Sydney. Just some honesty and maybe compromise. I get that this whole partnership shouldn't work out become we're 'incompatible' but as they say, '_What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility._'"

"Well, that's why we're not married." I opened the car door and slammed it shut, hurrying away.

After what felt like a few minutes, Sark turned off the car and hurried after me.

"So you're just gonna let you fuck them up, is that it then?" His voice was angry, yet concerned.

I refused to even look at him. I hurriedly crossed the street and headed for the nearest store.

---Vanessa's POV---

"What do we do?" Jessica asked me, eyes still transfixed on the screen.

"We fix this. We do some research." I turned off the TV, to accomplish 2 things- to help me think about where to look for information and to somehow manage to keep the images out of my head. I did not need this on top of a now publicized bank situation.

---Sydney's POV---

Once inside often home depot, I hurried off to the bathroom section.

"So maybe you can't be brainwashed, but they're doing something to you. Those pills that you always feel the need to take; they're doing something. Is it just a coincidence that you do into a withdrawal of some kind every time you stop taking them?

"Isaac never steered me wrong. The entire time, he protected me. W-" My mind suddenly flashed back to a newspaper that I had seen earlier today. "We need to go."

"What, what's going on?"

I leaned in to whisper. "Isaac and the others robbed a bank today."

**A/N: **Questions/ Comments? More information regarding Daniel Hefferman (the man Sydney killed at the hotel) will be revealed shortly.


	17. Work Your Magic

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Alias.

**A/N: **I know it's been a long time.

_Previously_ on "Where You Go When You're Gone:"

_---Vanessa's POV---_

"_What do we do?" Jessica asked me, eyes still transfixed on the screen. _

"_We fix this. We do some research." I turned off the TV, to accomplish 2 things- to help me think about where to look for information and to somehow manage to keep the images out of my head. I did not need this on top of a now publicized bank situation_

_---Sydney's POV---_

_Isaac never steered me wrong. The entire time, he protected me. W-" My mind suddenly flashed back to a newspaper that I had seen earlier today. "We need to go."_

"_What, what's going on?" _

_I leaned in to whisper. "Isaac and the others robbed a bank today."_

**Chapter 16- Work Your Magic**

---Sark's POV---

"What?!" I stared at Sydney.

She pulled me out of the Home Depot and back into the car.

"Why would they rob a bank?" I pulled out of the parking lot quickly, barely missing an oncoming car.

"The same reason anyone robs a bank. They-" She paused, as if thinking. "Daniel. Why didn't I think of it?"

"Think of what? Daniel Hefferman? The business man? The man who you killed?"

"Yeah. He… he funded us before…" she trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"You guys had a front." I concluded.

"We were supposedly a small company. He loved to sponsor charities, small businesses and not-for-profit organizations. However, when we wanted to go after the Auto, it got expensive. They tried to cover it up in the finance reports but he got suspicious. He began to question the authenticity of our company." Sydney revealed.

"And you remember all of this?" I glanced at her quickly. "Where are we going?"

"Take a right." She instructed. "I think the pills are also suppressing my memories. I remember bits and pieces when I don't take them. Perhaps the pills are giving me these illusions. I don't know."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could spy her leaning against the head rest with her eyes closed.

"They needed another means to fund it. Question: what is the Auto?" I stopped at the red light and stared at her, awaiting her response.

"The Auto is a Rambaldi artifact. It's absolutely terrifying to watch. They wanted it. It's very costly to go after. That's why they robbed the bank. We have to head back there."

I pulled back onto the highway.

"So far we know that the pills are either suppressing your memory or creating false memories. When you stop taking them, you get migraine headaches. It may be the battery for something else- we're not sure, what, though. Isaac never stopped giving you the pills- even when they captured you. You-" I paused for a second. "You took the pills right before you killed Daniel."

"You think it has something to do with the killings?" She seemed to be working the idea over in her mind.

"It'd make sense. Why else would they want you to keep taking it?"

"Pull off at this exit." she instructed.

"Do you think that Marshall could take a look at the website? See what he could deduce form it? Perhaps he might even be able to discover where the headquarters are."

I pulled up to where the old building had been. Had being the key word. There was nothing but rubble and forestry around here.

"They're covering their tracks. I guess we can get started with the website."

"I'll have to talk to Marshall by myself first. I have to see if I can convince him to do this."

**(((5 Hours Later)))**

---Jack's POV---

I watched as Sydney pulled up in a black Camry. She pulled out an HP notebook with her as she hurried out of the car. Her beige shirt and khaki pants looked worn thin. Her hair was up in a pony tail.

She embraced first me, then Marshall in a hug.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"I think so. I just want to get down to the bottom of this."

She placed the notebook on a nearby bench.

We were in a deserted park. Weeds poked through the beautiful grass while vines worked their way up the luscious trees. The occasional bench seemed to be the only thing that was man-made around here.

I watched her boot up the computer and type in the URL in the internet window. A page appeared saying that she either needed to change her browser settings or that the page did not exist. She typed in a response too quickly for my eyes to catch. Next, she pulled out a blank white card with a black strip on the back and swiped it between a crease in the keys of the keyboard. I watched as Sydney clicked on a spot on the screen and then the whole screen went blank.

"Work your magic." She stood up and moved away so that Marshall could get access to her computer.

He went to work typing away furiously at the computer.

I pulled her away in the meantime to talk to her.

"What's been going on?" I whispered.

"You remember Daniel Hefferman?" She asked, stealing a glance at Marshall.

"The 72 year-old with lung cancer and liver failure?"

"Yeah. I killed him." Her voice seemed to choke up at this revelation."

"Was Sloane right? Were those bullets Rambaldi bullets?" I was curious, to say the least.

"I don't know, they gave them to me." She admitted.

"Who's 'they'?"

"'They' would be an underground Rambaldi group. They had no problems resorting to terrorism to get what they wanted. They had a leader- his name is Isaac. He-" Sydney glanced down at the ground. "He would give me these pills. These pills, they heightened my senses, and allowed me to move with mechanical proficiency. However, they had their side-effects. I could never fully remember what had happened during the period in which I took the pills. I would go through these withdrawal when I stopped taking them. These images would flood my mind at night. Horrible, horrible images. Sark had someone analyze the pill . They said that these pills are a battery of sorts. It supplies some sort of energy to some other device. It also increases my level or Serotonin and endorphins. Temporarily, at least."

She remained quit after this.

"Sydney, we'll figure this out. For now, we'll keep you off the pills. The withdrawal will pass. We'll flush your system. We need to get you examined. Make sure whatever this pill is supplying energy to is not on your body. Then we'll go from there."

"We were planning on bring S & E into this."

"You have connections in S & E?" I was surprised at this.

"Yes, Sebastian. I can get him on the phone, let him know the plan."

She pulled out her phone and dialed a number; presumably Sebastian's.

"Hell? Yeah, it's me." She spoke into the phone. A few minutes of idle chatter passed between the two of them before they got down to business. At the end of the conversation, Sydney looked stunned and completely out of ideas.

"What is it?" I asked, concerned.

"Isaac's dead."

"Sydney! Jack!" Marshall came running towards us. "I found it! I found their headquarters!"

**A/N: **Questions/ Comments? No replies no updates, remember that.


	18. Go Bunny, Go

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Alias, and this is getting old.

**A/N: **I know it's been a long time. I've been busy.

**Previously on "Where You Go When You're Gone"**

_She pulled out her phone and dialed a number; presumably Sebastian's._

"_Hell? Yeah, it's me." She spoke into the phone. A few minutes of idle chatter passed between the two of them before they got down to business. At the end of the conversation, Sydney looked stunned and completely out of ideas._

"_What is it?" I asked, concerned._

"_Isaac's dead." _

"_Sydney! Jack!" Marshall came running towards us. "I found it! I found their headquarters!"_

**Chapter 17- Go bunny, Go**

---Sydney's POV---

"I'll have to call you back." I ended the phone call and turned to face Marshall.

"You found it? Where is it?"

"In a library." He chuckled softly. "I guess they value education as well."

Sark stared off into space. "I've been there. I put a tracer on Sydney's clothes back at the hotel. When they took her, I used it to try and find her. I didn't find her, I just found her clothes in front of some wall at the library."

"Wow a library with walls, that's madness!"

I grinned, sarcasm was a rare thing for Marshall.

"There was an old woman who seemed adamant that I stay out of there."

"Wow, Sark silenced by an elderly woman. This has been quite a day."

"Maybe it's the same library?"

"Could be."

"Why are we still standing around then?" Sark questioned.

"Maybe that shouldn't be our first stop. Seb told me that the groups were having a get together. It's going to be some sort of hip hop masquerade/costume/house party thing."

"Seb?" Sark's tone was crisp and unfriendly.

"Sebastian." I clarified. "Let's go."

**((( 5 hours later)))**

We arrived into whatever city this was a few minutes ago. It wasn't hard to figure out where we were going, the traffic was all headed that way. We had changed at the last exit. Marshall was in a very adorable Easter Bunny suit. I had donned a long dark black wig with curls. I also sported baggy white pants, a white belt, and a white shirt that resembled a bra with a little silver chain that hung from the zipper in the front. I also had a small gold chain.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Marshall laughed, looking over to me.

"Ciara. I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone. I'm dressed for the house party and the costume party."

"It's better than Sark's." I pointed out. Sark was in a white dress shirt that had 3 buttons unbuttoned. He had on black jeans and black shoes as well. 45 minutes later we finally pulled up. I couldn't describe the place because you couldn't see it. It was blocked by a mass of people. The lyrics to "Crank That" blared through the speakers. The mass of people seemed to be dancing in unison. People were dressed in everything from Playboy Bunnies to Trees.

_Soulja Boy Up In This Hoe  
Watch Me Crank It  
Watch Me Roll  
Watch Me Crank Dat Soulja Boy  
den Super Man Dat Hoe  
Now Watch Me YOOOOUUUU  
(Crank Dat Soulja Boy)_

We had to push through the mesh of people to get inside. Even inside we could still hear the song form outside. The bass was incredible.

"Did anybody feel old out there?" I whispered.

"I did notice that everybody out there didn't seem old enough to drink." Marshall noted.

"It's a front for their party." I realized.

Looking around, I noticed that we were in the "costume" section of the party.

"Meet back at the clock." I glanced towards the giant clock hanging on one of the walls. The room was brightly lit. I expected this room to be made of complete wood, based on the theme, but it was not. The floor was tiled black. The tables were a green marble. The walls were painted black. The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling seemed out of place. It made the place, ironically, look tacky. I realized, one inside, the place had two stories. The winding staircase was nicely hidden from view.

We were going to talk to the others there and compare their voices to those that I had heard before. This was all being done thanks to equipment that Marshall had provided from somewhere.

"Hello Nalani," a voice purred into my ear.

"Hello Seb." I flashed him a sensual smile.

He was dressed in BDU's (camouflage outfits). His buzz cut was hidden underneath his cap.

"Aren't you not supposed to wear hats inside?" I pointed to his head.

"The lady is right." He removed the hat and placed it in his pocket.

"Let's take a walk."

I hooked my hand on his elbow and walked out onto the balcony.

He closed the glass door and peer around before turning to face me.

"What do we got?"

"I haven't seen anybody yet."

"They're here. They must be in the other room. It's poorly lit. So we wait."

"Give me some kind of signal if you see anything." I stared down towards the diminishing crowd.

"You'll know. It'll be unmistakable but seemingly completely innocent as well. How many did you bring?"

"Two- I'm keeping this low key."

"Two," he scoffed, glancing down at me. "What are they? Supermen?"

"Good enough. That's what they are."

"Come work for me."

I snapped my head around quickly, not expecting his words.

I remained silent.

"If you come work for me, I'll speed up this process. That pill, wont be too hard to figure out." He slid a muscular arm around my waist. His fingers were cold on my bare stomach.

"Are you holding out information on me?" I asked, removing his arm and eying him dangerously.

"Would I do that?" His voice was sickly sweet.

"You'd do a lot of things Sebastian." I backed him up against the rocky wall of the building.

"And if I am?" He had a stupid amused look on his face.

I pretended to think about it, licking my lips softly. "If you are fucking with me…"

I dug the fake nails into him as he winced in pain. "then I swear to God I'll cut it off. Okay?"

I reentered the room. One glance told me that the teens from outside had joined the costume group.

I spotted Weiss and headed towards him.

"You have to get on the balls on your toes and sort of pivot your feet. Like this." One of the teenaged girls explained to him.

When the music came on, I realized what she had been doing. She was teaching him how to walk it out.

The music blared and pretty soon Weiss had his very own white guy/ bunny rabbit version of walk it out.

A crowd formed around him to watch and cheering "go bunny." It was a great opportunity because it allowed me to get access to more people.

"What's a pretty lady like you doing looking so unhappy at a party like this?" A man asked me. He was dressed like a cross between a pimp and Colonel Sanders. His white hat went well with his white tux and white cane. He extended out a gloved hand to introduce himself. "Harvey."

"Hello, Harvey." I smiled at him. "What brings you here?"

I started walking away from the dancing crowd, into a quieter area.

"A lot of things. A desire for fun, an obligation, really…" His emerald eyes twinkled with mischief.

"An obligation to go to a party? That is pretty horrible. You must have a jackass for a boss." I smiled at him.

"She's fairly new."

"She? Your boss is a woman. Is your boss here?" My eyes quickly pass over him and scanned the crowd, but to no avail.

"Yes, no, maybe so. I don't really know. I'm on one of the lower levels, actually."

"If your lower level, what are you doing here tonight?"

"We're the muscle."

I let out soft laugh. Henry wasn't exactly what you'd call built. He had partially developed some of his muscles, sure, but I wouldn't bet much on him against many agents. He was more of the tall, lanky type.

"We? Did you bring a girlfriend?"

"No, I brought some buddies from work. We're just here to make sure only people who were invited come."

"Shouldn't you be outside, then?"

"There's a lot of things I should be doing." He broke into a grin. "I'll get on it soon enough."

The music abruptly changed songs.

"I should get going. Nice to meet you, Nalani." He bowed and briefly kissed my hand before disappearing into the crowd.

"Isaac was replaced by a woman." I whispered into my comm. link.

Sark confirms my comment but Weiss is busy dancing in the middle of the crowd. He is unable to subtly reply back to me.

I see the crowd part suddenly and a very familiar figure make her way over to me.

Vanessa. She was dressed in a seductively red dress made to appear as if it had layers. It, therefore, ended at different part of her body. She had a rather quite large slit up the front of the dress. A large brown belt completed the outfit and matched her brown heels. Her brunette hair was curled gorgeously to accent her outfit. She catches the eye of all the men in the room- including Sark.

Her steps were both purposeful and graceful. She came to halt in front of me.

"I thought we discussed this already." Her eyes flicked to my pants, most likely gauging the most likely locations of any weapons.

"I beg to differ." I noted the men behind her. They had to have been her backup.

The room became quiet. Eyes glanced over towards us subtly.

No way. Impossible.

"I remember telling you that if I ran into you again, you'd be leaving in a body bag."

I glanced towards the door. Two men move to lock them.

"You must be getting pretty desperate." It's a last attempt. "Isaac never had to resort to robbing banks. Oh well, we all can't be good leaders."

She tensed.

Sebastian made eye contact with me. I couldn't decipher what was going on in his mind, however.

A man moved behind me- Henry.

"How rude of me." Vanessa spoke up, turning around to gesture that she was talking to the entire room. "I forgot to introduce everyone to the illustrious Sydney Bristow."

**A/N: **Seb knows Syd as Nalani [pronounced Nah-Lah-Nee (obviously, S & E wouldn't knowingly interact with CIA). Yes, I am trying to end this. I don't know how many chapters.


	19. We Need to Talk

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Alias. This is getting old.

**A/N: **I'm sorry about the long wait. Be sure to check my website for the latest news, etc.

_Previously on 'Where You Go When You're Gone:' _

"_How rude of me." Vanessa spoke up, turning around to gesture that she was talking to the entire room. "I forgot to introduce everyone to the illustrious Sydney Bristow."_

**Chapter 18- We Need to Talk **

---Sydney's POV---

I needed to focus, keep my head clear.

_I never told Henry my name. _

He had departed with a simple "nice to meet you Nalani" but I hadn't given him any name at all.

"I've got some information that you might be interested in." I began, it was worth a shot.

"I bet you do." She circled me. "Does it involve decapitation?"

"Perhaps, you should listen to me and make this party more exclusive. It might save you some embarrassment."

"So you're looking out for me now, are you? You're looking out for _me_?" She continued to raise her voice.

By now her guards were reaching for their guns. I counted way to many for me to take down, even with Sark and Weiss's help.

Moving quickly, Sark wrapped his arms around Vanessa.

He pulled her out of my range and whispered something to her.

They carried on this exclusive conversation for quite some time.

I clenched my fists when I noticed that he had yet to remove his hands from her waist.

The room remained silent. Everyone stared on as the conversation continued. The mood discreetly shifted to one of unabashed interest.

Sark moved his hand to her shoulder and lead her away.

I'm not quite sure if I felt shocked or angry. I reassessed the situation and discovered that no one seemed to care about my presence anymore.

I move quickly toward a figure near the wall.

"We need to talk." I opt to not pull out my gun.

"Whatever would you need to talk to me about?" His eyes were guarded.

"You're going to help me." I whispered.

"Am I?" He moved his cane into his other hand.

"I know you're working for S&E."

"And?"

"And I'm sure you wouldn't want Vanessa finding out."

"Are you sure about that?" He began to wring his cane with his gloved hands.

"Let's take a walk."

---Jack's POV---

**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse: **Do you have any contacts with S& E

**InyourEyes: **I used to. Give me awhile to check on it.

**InyourEyes: **How are you?

**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse: **I'm busy with this Sydney thing.

**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse: **We found their headquarters

**InyourEyes: **Whose?

**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse: **The people responsible for the pills

**InyourEyes: **Let's discuss it over lunch.

**Ignoranceisnotanexcuse: **Perhaps that's not the best thing to do at this time.

**InyourEyes: **It's just lunch, Jack.

**InyourEyes: **I'll give you a call later to discuss it.

---Weiss's POV---

"Marshall!" I called out, hurrying after him.

His eyes darted around briefly before landing on me.

"Oh, hey Weiss. What can I do for you?"

"In here," I pulled him into an empty office and set off my pen.

"Look Weiss, I know Syd and Vaughn did it, but I'm not into that kind of stuff."

"No, I need to talk to you about Sydney. You know something and I really need to know what it is for her sake."

"I…"

"Marshall, it's for Syd."

**A/N: **Questions? Comments? Yeah, I know this chapter was kinda short, lo siento.


	20. Revelation

**Disclaimer: **I Don't own Alias. Plain and Simple.

**A/N: I apologize.** _It was supposed to be Marshall at the party and not Weiss._** I have no clue what was going through my head when I wrote that it was Weiss. I apologize for any confusion.**

Here's a brief reminder of the main details that have occurred in the story, in case you're forgetting.** Skip past the italics if you remember what's happened.**

_-Sydney assassinates a man who is later revealed to be Daniel Hefferman, an elderly man who funded the group that Isaac runs._

_-The CIA discusses a mysterious death of an elderly 72- year old man. Before he had died, he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and liver failure. The bullet he was shot with may have connections to Rambaldi._

_-Weiss believes Syd is acting strange so he heads to the hotel, where the investigation is going on, to confront her. When he comes to the hotel and searches Syd's laptop, he discovers the mysterious site However, when he types it in, he receives the message "web page does not exist." That or he needs to adjust his browser settings._

_-A man informs Isaac that there were some complications with Sydney's mission- the CIA to be specific._

_-Sark, who was also investigating the incident, returns to his room to find Vanessa waiting for him._

_-Syd and Sark have a confrontation about her involvement in the death of Daniel Hefferman. As Syd leaves, Sark plants a tracker and a listening device on her._

_-Weiss sends an email about his suspicions regarding Sydney to the CIA but Marshall intercepts the email and fails to report it to Sloane_

_-Men shoot 10 tranq. Darts into Syd and take her away._

_-Sydney wakes up in a strange room and comes face to face with Vanessa. She asks Syd if she knows why the mission failed. "Perfection" Sydney replies._

_-Even as she's held prisoner, they continue to feed Sydney so she takes her pills._

_-Irina informs Jack in an IM that Sydney may have been the one to kill Daniel_

_-Sark tracks down…. Sydney's clothes. They're in a library._

_-Vanessa shoots Syd in the leg and promises her that the next time she sees her, Syd will be leaving in a body bag. She allows Syd to leave._

_-Isaac views an odd video._

_-After getting shot, Syd realizes that she has an audio device and a tracker on her. After discovering that the source of it is Sark, she bargains with him. Her extraction for his entrance into S & E an elite terrorist group._

_-Vanessa calls Isaac and gives him "Sydney's" location._

_-Vanessa warns Sark about Sydney and the pills._

_-Sark meets Syd's connection in S & E- Seb (Sebastian)_

_-Sydney questions why Sark didn't use one of his contacts instead of being forced to stay in a motel. He refuses to answer the question._

_-Isaac goes to a motel to kill Sydney only to be killed himself by Vanessa. She has set him up._

_-It is revealed that Isaac used to be Vanessa's teacher. They had an affair together years ago._

_-Sydney's pills supply power to another device and increase her level of serotonin._

_-Vanessa and Jessica, the girl who was with Vanessa when she killed Isaac, watch a similar video to the one Isaac saw._

_-It is revealed that Isaac's group robbed a bank and that Daniel Hefferman funded the group._

_-Syd briefly brings up, "The Auto"_

_-Syd and Sark contact Marshall to see if he can track the people down by using the website._

_-Syd calls Seb and discovers that Isaac is dead; later, Marshall announces that he has found their headquarters. Seb also reveals that there is a huge get-together with the groups._

_-Syd, Sark and Marshall go._

_-Seb greets Sydney as 'Nalani" He hints that he may know more about the pill then he's letting on. Syd threatens to castrate him if he neglects to inform her about the pill._

_-Syd meets a man named Harvey who reveals that his new boss is a woman._

_-Harvey tells Syd "It was nice meeting you Nalani"_

_-Vanessa runs into Syd and the room quiets down._

_-Sydney discovers that Vanessa is the new leader._

_-Sark ends the confrontation by whispering to Vanessa and leading her away._

_-Syd confronts Henry. She accuses him of being involved with S& E and threatens to tell Vanessa._

_-Irina and Jack agree to go out to lunch to discuss Sydney's situation_

_-Weiss pulls Marshall aside to discuss Sydney_

**Chapter 19- Revelation **

((( A Day Earlier)))

---Sydney's POV---

We left the house and headed for the woods behind it.

When I turned around, I found Henry, looking calm and collected. His white tux seemed to glow around all the darkness.

"So, we were saying…" I started.

"_You_ were not saying anything." His fingers twisted the white cane in a threatening motion.

I moved my hand closer to one of my guns.

I pulled out my trusted Glock. "I think I was. Put down the cane and let's have a civilized conversation."

"Says the bitch with the gun."

"Now that we've established who I am, let's get back to the business on hand."

He remains silent. "It would _behoove_ you not to tell Vanessa about this."

"And why is that?" I kept an eye on his hands.

"Because she already knows."

"Does she," I let out a soft chuckle.

I jumped a little as Henry began to chuckle with me. Soon after, he broke out into a full blown laugh.

"Oh, Nalani. Vanessa knows I'm with S&E because she is the _head_ of S &E."

"Bullshit."

"Why didn't our buddy Sebastian or what does he say you call him… Seb, why doesn't Seb just flat out help you? You can only allow Sark to get in or find out information on "Vanessa's group."

"It would make sense that you would be the people giving out the information on your own group so that you could filter or distort it to fit your needs." I whispered softly.

"You do catch on quickly. Anyways, if Vanessa knows you know, she'll kill you. You'll be able to put a name to the group responsible for so many things. So like I said, it would _behoove_ you not to tell Vanessa."

"And why would you tell me?"

"Like I told you, I'm a lower level. I'm expendable. So I've got to keep my loyalties flexible."

I grinned before quickly replacing it with a blank expression.

"Really?" I questioned him.

"Really."

I smashed my elbow into his face and kicked him in the gut. I kicked him in the shin before he fell face down onto the ground. I backed away and hurried to go find Marshall.

(((The Next Day)))

---Weiss's POV---

"I haven't seen you around lately and I know it has something to do with Syd," I began.

Marshall remained quiet while he nervously played with his hands.

"Marshall…" I tried to make eye contact but he was persistent. I made sure to keep my voice low, "Is Syd involved in the death of that old guy? Tell me the truth."

"What?" He seemed shocked by my question. "I- I- I don't know. I tracked down the headquarters of a company and then we went to a meeting of theirs. Well it wasn't like a meeting it was like a high school, well not really high school per say, almost like a promotional party. Kind of."

"And?"

"And then we came back."

"Oh"

"So…" Marshall drawled. "Sydney killed him, didn't she?"

---Jack's POV---

The blacks and whites of the restaurant allowed it to be a both casual and romantic setting. The booths outlining the room were a luscious black with black marble tables. The tiles were a shimmering black and white. Encompassing the rest of the restaurant were petite black tables and black chairs with hints of white in them. All the tables contained a single red rose, 2 lit candles, a mini jukebox, and the usual silverware. The lights were dimmed slightly.

She walked into the restaurant with her usual confident stride. The black straps to her dress hung comfortably at her shoulders. Beneath the strap, a midnight blue corset-like top filled out into a luscious black finish. Black heel peeked out from the bottom as she glided across the room.

"Close your mouth Jack." She smiled sweetly as she slid into the seat opposite me. "You'll catch that way."

I adjusted my tie and cleared my throat.

"Don't you think you're a little overdressed?" I sorted through some of the paper I had brought with me.

"What are we doing discussing my attire, I thought we were here to discus Sydney. That is, unless, there was something else you wanted to do?" There was laughter in her eyes.

"So this is it." I slid a paper over to her.

She scanned the paper briefly before meeting my eyes. "Wait. This can't be right."

"I had Marshall look into it." I assured her.

"Jack," Irina glanced back down at the paper. "That… that's S &E's address. S & E's drugging Sydney?"

"It's gotta be suppressing her memories. What do you know about it?"

I pulled out one of the pills. Irina looked over the pill.

"I've never seen it. Is this still in Sydney's system?"

"It should be just about gone now. She was going through withdrawal earlier."

"Get in touch with Sydney. I'll be in touch in a few days." She stood up quickly.

"Wait." I grabbed her wrist to stop her. "What are you going to do?"

"We're going to make a trade." She replied, meeting my eyes.

"A trade?"

"S&E wants the Auto. They're desperate. I've heard they've turned to robbing banks. We're gonna trade the Auto for information."

"How can we be sure they'll own up to their side of the deal?" I countered.

"We don't. That's why they're not getting the actual Auto. We tell them that for security we're keeping it in another location. They trace the feed after we're done and all they get is the location to another place where the feed is being sent from the real source."

"Okay."

She pulled her wrist out of my grip and offered me a small smile. "Goodbye Jack."

"We didn't get to order." I pointed out.

"I thought we agreed that this was only about Sydney today?" She turned around with that and walked out of the restaurant.

(((The Next Day)))

---Sydney's POV---

"Did you have a good time with Vanessa?" I greeted Sark as he pulled up in an Acura.

"Careful Sydney." Sark whispered, stepping closer to me at I leaned against the red Dodge RAM I had driven here in. "One might say you sound a bit jealous right now."

"Just asking a question." I replied as coolly as possible.

"I convinced her to calm down and then I took her home."

"You were gone for a day." I pointed out.

"It's a long drive to her house." He leaned forward and kissed me full on the mouth before pulling away and pointing out that "didn't look good on anybody, not even you."

Just as quickly as he had started it, Sark pulled away and headed back to the Acura, calling out that he had to "return the car."

**A/N: **So I wrote this instead of writing 3 essays. : (


	21. To My Readers

Hello, faithful, wonderful readers!

I apologize for my exceedingly long hiatus from writing. I got caught up in schoolwork and other obligations. However, I have Christmas break coming up and hope to continue writing during that time period. My plan is to start off with (original) fiction writing and contemplate picking back up my last 3 Alias stories. As it has been off the air for awhile and I have also been M.I.A. for 2 years, I completely understand if you no longer have an interest in continuing to read my Alias stories. That is one of the main reasons why I will start with original fiction and then see how I feel about resuscitating these old stories.

Either way, you guys were all so amazing. I wish everyone the best of luck in their future writing and (fan) fiction reading adventures.

Thanks!

~LilsurferSango


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